She grinned into the darkness. Yes! The old boy came through. Ryan found something, she could tell. She’d seen him deep in concentration often enough to know when something was important.
“What’s up,” she asked as she drew up next to him.
“Hastings Dry-dock is flat broke,” Ryan tapped the folder. “This is a financial statement from his lawyer, Arthur Billings, giving Conrad the bad news. In the last paragraph it mentions alternative options to Conrad’s situation.”
“From the bills I saw downstairs I’d say Conrad is broke period, and whatever those options happen to be they sure aren’t in place yet. All his credit cards are cancelled. Doesn’t that guy ever listen to Dr. Phil?”
Ryan closed the folder and put it back in the top drawer of the end table next to the bed. He clicked off his flashlight, leaving them in the dark with moonlight casting shadows across the room. “Conrad might be busted, but that can’t have anything to do with Thelma. She’s not exactly an heiress who can bail him out.”
Effie found two steps beside the bed and hitched herself up, sitting beside Ryan. “Sally or Rory didn’t say anything about Conrad’s financial circumstances. They don’t seem to be public knowledge. Guess he’s keeping it quiet, maybe waiting for this option to kick in.”
“Hastings Dry-dock has been around for a long time. His family made a huge success of it. Every barge operator from New Madrid to Greenville took their tows there for repairs. Conrad’s led the life of leisure. Him without money is hard to imagine. Him working is even harder to imagine. The man’s never broken a sweat a day in his life.”
“Except putting in that patio out back. He had to sweat plenty doing that. And all because he’s trying to impress Thelma.”
“Yeah.” Ryan raked his hair. “Everything keeps circling back to Thelma, and I can’t figure out why or—”
A car roared into the drive and came to a gravel-spitting stop. Ryan stood and looked out the window. “Oh, shit!”
The front door banged open. Laughing and giggling echoed in the hallway with, “Conrad, you are such a bad boy. Give me back my blouse.”
“You’ll have to come and get it, Surfer Girl.”
More giggling, then yelps of laughter followed by running up the steps. Ryan grabbed Effie and pulled her under the big bed a breath before Conrad and Thelma charged into the room and collapsed onto the mattress. Effie pressed her back to Ryan’s front, both keeping perfectly still. Thank God for high antique beds. She looked up at the sagging springs, where more giggling followed howls of fun.
“Fuck!” Ryan whispered in her ear.
And that’s exactly where this scenario was headed, and she and Ryan would be present for the whole blasted show!
Ryan watched the springs sag and roll six inches from his face. Okay, he loved sex, he truly did. Two consenting adults giving each other pleasure was one of the best things about life. But he didn’t want to listen to those adults doing the horizontal hula right above him, especially when one of them was Thelma, the woman who nearly raised him.
He gritted his teeth, his eyes shut at the thought. Effie had her hands over her ears, obviously liking the situation as much as he did. The bed squeaked and moaned. Dang, if the above occupants didn’t pace themselves, he and Effie could get squashed like pancakes when these old slats gave way and collapsed right on top of them. More heavy breathing followed, then grunts.
Oh, God. Not grunts. He didn’t want to even think what grunting meant.
He needed a diversion, fast. Something to get his mind off the antics going on. Effie rolled over, her nose now touching his, the expression on her face the same as if she’d swallowed a pickle whole. She cupped his ear with her warm hand and whispered, her breath flowing onto his cheek and down his neck. “What should we do?”
His gut tightened; his dick did the same and rose to the occasion. If he and Effie did down here what was going on above, they couldn’t think about what was going on above, right? Hell, it was worth a shot! He hooked his finger under Effie’s chin, brought her lips to his and kissed her.
Her eyes widened in disbelief that he could consider such a thing. He pointed upward and whispered in her ear, “It’s me or them.”
Then he kissed her again, and this time her eyes warmed with passion and her lips softened under his. Her mouth opened, letting his tongue take hers in a sultry summer dance guaranteed to keep their minds on just the two of them.
She threaded her fingers through his hair, and her body snuggled close. Considering the amount of heat being generated in this room, Ryan imagined the whole place going up in a burst of flames any minute.
His right hand slid under Effie’s blouse, connecting with her soft damp skin. He reached to her smooth sleek back and unsnapped her bra. She gasped, but he muffled the sound with his own mouth as his fingers freed the material from around her and he cradled her perfect breast in his palm. So firm, so warm, so incredibly luscious. God, he loved luscious.
Conrad mumbled something, but Ryan was too busy with his own agenda to think about it. That was the whole point, wasn’t it? Then Effie took his bottom lip between hers, sucked him deeply into her mouth, and Ryan knew he’d want this if World War Three was exploding around him or nothing at all. Some things were too good to pass up, no matter what!
His dick swelled and throbbed against his jeans. Effie’s clever fingers undid the snap, lowered the zipper and held him tight. He drew in a quick breath as she stroked him ... slowly, purposefully, making him hard as the floor beneath them.
He pushed up her blouse and licked her hardening left nipple, feeling her tremble, her breasts filling with desire as his tongue circled the sensitive tip. He did the same to the other, and her fingers held his engorged penis a bit tighter, stroking him faster, bringing him close to the brink. He unbuttoned her slacks, then slid his hands down her smooth abdomen and connected with the soft curls between her legs.
Slowly he eased his hand into the cleft, and she spread her thighs for him, as best she could in this space, letting his fingers glide easily into her warm wetness so ready for him. His fingers probed deeper, one finger, then two. Her eyes clouded, her breaths came faster, hotter, and his dick felt as if it would burst.
God, he wanted to be inside her. Every time he was with Effie he enjoyed her more and more. Usually he tired of a woman, got his fill. He couldn’t seem to get his fill of Effie. She enticed him, intrigued him, tempted him beyond words. Drove him freaking nuts.
He simply wanted more, even here under Conrad’s bed . .. until the phone rang?
Good God, not now. He was so close to getting Effie off. A few more strokes, his fingers a little deeper, more pressure, more teasing . . .
Then again, the damn phone ringing could be a blessing in disguise. Effie yelling his name in a fit of climax was not the way to stay hidden. Though the way the two above were going at it they wouldn’t notice.
“Don’t answer it,” Conrad wheezed.
“There might be a problem with Bonnie,” Thelma huffed. “I’d never forgive myself.”
The bed shifted, and the phone stopped ringing. Conrad groused, “Hello?” He paused, puffed out an audible lungful of air, then said, “Thelma, it’s business. I’ve got to take it. I’ll just be a minute. There’s champagne and glasses chilling in the fridge. And strawberries.”
“Oh, Conrad.” She chuckled. “You do know what I like. You take your call, and I’ll get the champagne and turn on the Jacuzzi. I know what you like, too.”
The bed moved again as Thelma slid off. A soft glow of some small light suddenly bathed the room. Thelma grabbed Conrad’s shirt from the floor, probably to use as a robe. She went into the bathroom. Momentarily the soft hum of the Jacuzzi began flowing into the room. Her bare feet headed for the hall.
Reluctantly Ryan slid his fingers from Effie as she let go of his erection. She looked as frustrated as he felt, and that was one hell of a lot of frustration.
Conrad didn’t say a word for a few beats, t
hen whispered, “Why the hell are you calling me now? Things were just getting good here. How do you expect me to romance the pigeon if—What do you mean, three days? I thought we had more time. I can’t—Fuck! All right, all right. I’ll think of something. I just hope Ryan and that broad he’s with don’t get wise to what’s going on. I don’t trust either of them. I’ve got to go. She’s coming. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The phone dropped into the cradle as Thelma entered the room. “I see you’ve finished your business. Now we can take care of other... business.” She laughed wickedly, like a woman in love who wanted to be made love to. “Why don’t we take the champagne into the Jacuzzi? It should be hot by now.”
Conrad said, “You do know how to show a boy a good time.”
He slid from the bed, and four feet shuffled across the bedroom to the bathroom, accompanied by an assortment of sounds Ryan didn’t want to think about. Effie made to scoot out, but he held her back in case Thelma or Conrad returned for some forgotten article. But when they didn’t, he let her go and scooted out behind her.
He zipped his jeans, not an easy task considering his present condition. Effie reattached her bra. Damn, he liked it so much better taking it off. They crept—top speed for a throbbing hard-on—toward the hallway, the Jacuzzi drowning out old creaking boards. He followed Effie down the stairs, then to the back door.
He looked across the yard to the trees where they had to go. So near, yet so damn far. “I can’t run,” he whispered.
She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “We don’t have time for a night stroll, Ryan. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“Hey, you’re the one who got me in this ... state. I expect a little more understanding.”
“And how understanding are the police going to be when they haul our butts off to jail.”
He snagged her hand, gritted his teeth, opened the door and sprinted across the yard to the trees, thinking pain, pain, pain with each step.
In seconds the trees swallowed them up, and they stopped in the shadows to get their breaths. “Hope I didn’t damage something important.”
Her gaze met his, her eyes bright with devilment. “Wanna find out?”
“Here!”
“We weren’t exactly playing patty-cake under that bed, Ryan. Can’t be worse than a wheelhouse.”
His dick swelled larger than before, more painful than ever. She unsnapped her slacks, the material gaping around her waist, and his body went rigid with anticipation. “God, you make me crazy.”
She kicked off her shoes, one flipping over his head, settling into the bushes with a soft swoosh; the other ricocheted off a tree limb with a solid thud. Her pants, then her panties landed in a chinaberry bush beside him.
“I don’t believe this. Grant, eat your heart out.”
She put her hands to her bare hips and twitched her pelvis, the gold ring at her navel catching a ray of moonlight. “You are so damn sexy.”
She swaggered to him and slowly wound her arms around his neck. “I can’t wait, Ryan,” her voice was suddenly ragged and broken.
He took a condom from his wallet, covered himself, then slid his palms against her firm bare derriere, cupping each cheek. “Lean against the tree and wrap your legs around my waist.”
“I’m too heavy for you to lift.”
“Oh, sugar, this won’t take long.” He looked her dead in the eyes. “I promise.”
He braced her against the trunk and held her as her sweet silky thighs circled him. He kissed her, and in one thrust he drove into her, taking her whimpers into his mouth. She held onto his shoulders, her fingers digging into his flesh as he plunged into her again, then once more.
Her body opened wider each time, allowing him to be more fully, more completely, a part of her. She trusted him, gave herself fully to him, and every cell of his body reveled in the sensation. Then she arched, tensing in climax, yelling his name into the woods as his own release followed.
Every time with Effie was better than the last, and that was impossible because every time was perfect. Her head sagged to his shoulder. He could feel her hot breaths through his shirt, scorching his skin underneath. He kissed her hair. “What you do to me.”
“I think it’s what you just did to me.”
He slid himself out of her and let her stand, her body sagging into his arms. Moonlight danced in her hair. “Are you okay?”
“That was astounding.”
A light came on in the house, and they cut their eyes in that direction. “We’ve got to get out of here. The cops patrol the area. That dirt road is a favorite make-out spot with the local teens. If they spot our cars ...”
Effie nipped his chin and smiled. “What if they spot us?” She stepped back and snagged her pants from the bush. “We have to get back to Sally and fill her in on what happened.”
“Not everything that happened.”
She laughed as she slipped into her gym shoes. “I need a cold beer.”
“Thought you were a white wine girl.”
“Yeah, well, this is the Landing, and things are different here.” Her eyes met his, and she said in a low voice, “We’re different. But what happens between us when we leave here, Ryan? What do we do then?”
Chapter 14
Effie watched Ryan’s eyes darken. “What do you mean, what happens? We go back to being architects, just like before. That’s what we both want, right?”
He wrapped the condom in his handkerchief, buttoned his jeans, then took her hand, pulling her into the woods as he clicked on his flashlight. “Follow me. Least this time you won’t have to use your cell phone. How’d that work?”
About the same as this relationship. “Crappy.” She tagged behind him, thinking about what he said .. . architects like before. That meant when they got back to Designs Unlimited he’d be back to his flavor-of-the-month antics and she’d be back to having the hots for him from afar.
But shouldn’t she be over that? She lusted after Ryan for sex, and since they’d been at the Landing she’d had sex, sex and more sex with that man. That should satisfy a lifetime worth of fantasies.
So why didn’t it?
“Well, here we are,” Ryan said as they pulled up next to their cars. “We made it. No interruptions from Grant. I’ll meet you back at Slim’s.”
He gave her a quick see-you-around-baby kind of kiss and got in his car. She did the same, and they pulled onto the two-lane, heading for town.
The moon sat in the treetops; the stars winked in the clear sky. She darted around an opossum crossing the road and skidded into the curve by the big hawthorn that must be a million years old. Everything unique. No two things the same on the Landing. No trees alike, no houses alike, no two people alike. No cookie-cutter Starbucks on each corner or predictable Dollar Stores on every block. No Banana Republic, Gap, Limited, Williams-Sonoma. Here there were stores that people owned and named and ran where they knew each of their customers and their families by name. This wasn’t the big city, and she felt more at home here than she ever had in San Diego.
She parked the car beside Slim’s as Ryan came her way. “What’s going on?” he asked as he drew up beside her. “You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”
“Thinking about San Diego.”
“Well, don’t get too homesick. We shouldn’t be here much longer. Rory’s PI’s been snooping around; he’s bound to turn up something soon. Then Dad will find Mimi, and we can head back home.”
She spread her arms, taking in the town. “Don’t you think of the Landing as home? It’s where you grew up, where you know everyone and everyone knows you and your family. Don’t you feel something?”
He glanced around, then shrugged. “Once upon a time this was home, but I’m a city slicker at heart.” He smiled down at her. “Just like you. Come on, I’ll buy you a beer.”
They walked into Slim’s and sat at the far end of the bar. Sally scurried over and put up two beers as she leaned across the bar. “Holy cow, you
two were sure gone long enough. Scared me to death. Any minute I thought I’d hear that Sheriff Spade had you both locked up tighter than a lid on a jelly jar.”
She looked from one to the other. “Well don’t just sit there slurping free beer, give. What happened?”
A fun tune about Doctor Feelgood wailed, drowning out their conversation from the others and setting Effie’s toe tapping to the tune as Ryan said, “You’re going to love this. Remember how Conrad always had the best of everything. The most expensive train sets for Christmas, the coolest clothes, a new Mustang when he turned sixteen and we were all so jealous we saw green for weeks. Conrad’s broke.”
Sally did a low whistle. “Never thought I’d see the day when he wasn’t loaded. He’s been flashing his money around as long as I can remember.”
Effie added, “And most important we overheard a phone conversation where Thelma somehow plays into Conrad’s plans of getting himself unbroke.”
Sally frowned and popped open a beer and took a long gulp that was not very Wall Street-like. “Thelma? What did she do, win the lottery or something? She doesn’t have any money.”
Effie said, “But she needs to know Conrad’s not playing square with her. That he’s got an agenda and she’s part of it.”
Ryan held up his hand in protest. “But we have no idea what that agenda is. We can’t open our big mouths and dash her romantic dreams without knowing what’s really going on. What if we’re jumping to conclusions and make accusations when Conrad’s trying to work things out. Besides, the only thing we heard from our side of the conversation was he didn’t trust me and Effie. Big surprise there. Unless we get more information we should butt out and wait.”
“I hate waiting,” Effie muttered as she drummed her fingers on the bar. “I can’t just sit here. But.. . but...” She smiled at Ryan sweetly and batted her eyes.
He wagged his head. “Whatever it is that you’re cooking up, the answer’s no because it’s going to involve me and I don’t want to be involved.”
Til There Was U Page 17