by Mya Wood
Landry was helped in this by a knock on the window. He looked out to see Mrs. Dandridge giving him a wave and a wink. He waved back. She looked over at Bianca and then back at Landry and then went on her way, nodding and smiling in satisfaction. It was enough to dampen Landry’s ardor, or at least the physical manifestation of it.
“Okay, that’s done. Now, what do I need to take to the beach?”
“Just a towel to sit on will be good.”
Bianca grabbed her beach bag out of her suitcase and said, “Okay, let’s go. This is your key.” She carefully handed him back the master. “And this is mine.” She held up her room key and then slipped it into a little zippered pocket on the side of her bag.
Landry took the bag from her and held open the door. Bianca stepped past him, stopped from laying her lips on his chest only by the gathering flock of seniors arranging themselves around the pool. Landry closed the door and then took her hand. She looked at him inquiringly.
“I want to hold your hand,” he smiled. “And we aren’t fooling anyone.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, “They’d probably give us a standing ovation if we kissed.”
They both looked over at the pool. The vision of the seniors all trying at once to drag themselves up off their lounge chairs to offer a salute to youth was almost too much for them. They started to giggle, and Landry dragged her along the path.
“Behave yourself,” he chided, although he was laughing too.
Like I could even if I wanted to, thought Bianca.
They went through the hedge and down to the beach. They looked around. There were one or two groups of people off to their right, but no one off to the left. They headed that way and walked for a bit, each of them searching for the perfect spot.
Stupid really, thought Bianca. It all looks the same, yet somehow we’ll just know where to stop.
And they did. At the same moment, they stopped and looked around. They had found the spot.
Landry reached for the zipper on the beach bag. He had it halfway open when a little voice in the back of Bianca’s head whispered, the last thing you put in that bag was your underwear.
Bianca snatched the bag out Landry’s hands. “I’ll do it,” she said. “Sometimes the zipper sticks.” She turned her back and opened the bag. She turned back to him with the beach towel in her hand. “There we go.”
Landry took the towel from her and spread it out on the sand. Then he sat down at the top of it and motioned for her to join him. He spread his legs, and Bianca sat between them with her back to him. Landry wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned her head back against his chest.
Please let Heaven be exactly this, she prayed.
Landry kissed the spot on her neck.
No, this, she prayed. Let Heaven be this.
Landry ran his finger down her arm.
No, that. No, a combination. Okay, the neck and the arm. That. Please let that be what Heaven is like.
Bianca, you are going straight to hell and you know it, so you might as well stop placing your order for Heaven. And for Pete’s sake, don’t say it out loud.
“Heaven,” she whispered. Okay, now it's official. You're a damn fool, Girl.
“Yes,” Landry whispered back, and Bianca knew that, for once in her life, she had said the right thing at the right time.
They sat there together for a long time, each of them not saying anything and just enjoying the view and the feel and the smell of each other. Then Landry shifted his shoulder slightly and leaned back, and Bianca tipped her face up for the kiss she knew was coming.
The embrace lasted about an hour, she thought. It started out as a gentle pressing of lips and then turned into a complete oral examination of each other. They explored each other softly and slowly and every part of their bodies reveled in it. Bianca thought that if her toes curled up any further, they just might snap off.
But kissing was enough, and their hands stayed where they were. It was a gentle, exquisite passion, and it was perfect. When they stopped, Bianca laid her head on Landry’s chest. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes, surprised to see it was still daylight. It seemed like their mouths had been making love for hours.
They both sighed at the same moment – a soft expression of complete contentment with the present state of their lives. Bianca leaned forward, hugging her knees. Landry moved beside her and sat the same way.
“Who should I be thanking for this?” Landry looked sideways at her. “Who told you to come here? How did you know about this place?”
“That would be Valerie,” replied Bianca. “My friend. And you wouldn’t have had to worry about not being recognized by her. She’s a big fan of your team, and football in general. She talks about it a lot…so much that I’m surprised I didn’t clue in to who you were…it’s just that you were so…so…”
“…out of context?”
“Exactly. I mean, you don’t expect your midnight handyman to have been on the cover of Sports Illustrated.”
“Emergency replacement midnight handyman,” stated Landry emphatically, smiling.
“Well, there you go. You don’t say, ‘Uh oh, the shower broke – I better get the guy to fix it. I sure hope he’s a famous football player.’”
Landry laughed. “I must send Valerie a ‘thank you’ note.”
“I’ll buy the picture frame for it on the way home. She’ll want to keep it forever.” Bianca smiled and started to talk about Valerie some more.
Landry listened as Bianca described her friend. He noticed that when she wasn’t nervous, she didn’t say goof things. She was articulate and eloquent. Her voice was enthralling, changing tempo and volume to match the dramatic turns of her words. And her hands. Her hands spoke their own language, weaving a spell as they punctuated her speech. She sure wouldn’t have to worry about kids paying attention in class.
Yeah, like you’re paying such close attention to her words, prodded Landry’s conscience. He blinked back to reality and focused on what Bianca was saying.
“…loves to laugh. We make each other laugh all the time. Once, we even got a noise complaint from the neighbors.”
“Must have been something pretty funny.”
Bianca shrugged. “Well, let’s just say she never dated him again.”
“Do you tell each other everything?” Landry asked.
Bianca looked sideways at him, then started to smile. ‘No, not everything. We have this code phrase. Fade to black. Like they say in the movies.”
Landry nodded. Yeah, he knew what she meant.
“So, we’ll say, ‘and then he said – you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen – and…fade to black’.”
Corporate Landry coughed in the back of his head to get his attention. He was a little on edge. Landry trusted Bianca implicitly, but if Valerie was a fan…well, the fans made Landry a little nervous sometimes – not when he met them or at games – they were supposed to be excited then. But afterwards, when they were supposed to get on with their own lives but only continued to fixate on his.
Still, Landry knew he should be grateful. They were the ones who came out to foundation fundraisers and who helped spread the word about his sister’s illness, but…sometimes it just became too much.
That’s why he had sworn his family to secrecy about his coming down here. He told his parents and his aunt and uncle that if anyone found out that he was here, he would be leaving immediately and they would have to find someone else.
They agreed and smiled at him indulgently. Dear sweet Landry. He thinks all the seniors at Hampton Inn will know him ‘cause he’s such a big star. His mother was the only one who really understood, and she squeezed his hand and reassured him that it would stay a secret.
Landry was leaving on Saturday, so he didn’t think he had to worry about hordes descending on him, but he wondered about the Internet. His Uncle Phil and Aunt Nadine had a nice, quiet business going here with the seniors, and
Landry didn’t want it ruined by fans hoping to visit Florida and do a little Landry-spotting at the same time.
Landry realized that Bianca had stopped talking and was looking at him speculatively.
“Do you want me to change your name?” she asked, as if she had read his mind.
Landry was embarrassed. How full of yourself can you be? he chastised himself.
“Valerie would never say anything to anyone,” continued Bianca, “but if you want…”
“No,” said Landry. He took her hand. “It’s just that some fans…”
Now it was his turn to talk. Landry regaled Bianca with story after crazy story of fan antics – the stuff they would do just to get tickets; the lengths they would go to, first to find the players’ hotel, then their rooms; the stalkers who followed them from place to place, and the creepy proposals.
Bianca listened with half her brain, throwing in the occasional ‘You’re kidding!’ or ‘Oh my God, that’s unbelievable’ when warranted. The other half of her brain was desperately trying to keep Bianca’s voice from articulating the thoughts being expressed by her various body parts.
“I want to kiss his neck.” Her lips.
“I want to lick his nipples.” Her tongue.
“I want to undo his jeans.” Her hand.
“Okay.” All her other parts chimed in their agreement to that one.
“I’m falling in love with him.” Her heart.
“NO!” Bianca shouted and leapt to her feet.
Landry sat on the sand, wide-eyed. What now?
Bianca did a little hop-step and started rubbing her leg. “A cramp. Sorry.”
God, Bianca, you are such a fool!
Landry sat up on his knees and motioned her to him. He started gently massaging her calf. Bianca pulled her foot upward to tighten the muscle at first, so he wouldn’t think she was a complete idiot, and then slowly relaxed it. After a moment she dropped to her knees in front of him.
“Thanks,” she whispered, kissing him gently, “but I’m afraid it’s moved.”
“Really?” Landry grinned. “Where to?”
“Guess,” she breathed into his ear and then kissed his neck.
“Maybe here?” he inquired, putting his arms around her and moving his hands just down inside the top of her shorts. He began to massage the muscles of her lower back.
“Oh, Lord, yes!” murmured Bianca, gently sinking her teeth into his shoulder through his shirt.
“Or maybe here?” He slid one hand down over her buttocks and began to stroke her inner thigh.
“Mmmm…” Bianca had no words. She slid her fingertips down his chest.
Then, somehow, they were horizontal, and their hands could not be still. Bianca’s hands explored Landry's chest and back and then made their way lower. When she began rubbing him through his jeans, Landry groaned and rolled on top of her, pressing his hardness down on her. He supported himself on his elbows, and he rocked her body until they both thought they would scream. Somehow, being fully dressed made it even more erotic.
Suddenly, Landry stopped. “You do something to me…you just…” He breathed deeply and willed himself to come back down to earth before he said or did something he would regret.
Bianca smiled a lazy, sexy smile. Her eyes were glazed with passion. Landry knew he could have her right now if he wanted – open beach and all. But he didn’t want her like that. He leaned down and kissed her neck.
Bianca sensed that the moment had passed. “Let’s put a bookmark in this page,” she suggested, “and come back to it later.”
Landry laughed and rolled off her. They both sat up again, hugging their knees, keeping a little distance between them.
“Yeah,” he agreed, “Maybe the setting will have changed.”
“Maybe we can go back to the gazebo,” said Bianca, “and cause a hurricane this time.”
Landry laughed. Man, he loved this girl. Well not…you know…love love, just…
“I’m hungry again,” he said. “Do you have a dress here?”
“You want to eat my dress?” asked Bianca.
“No,” laughed Landry. “I want to take you to dinner. There’s a place up the road – Rio’s. It’s a dressy, fine dining kind of place. But it doesn’t matter if you don’t go all out. They have a patio bar too.”
“I have a sundress. It’s fairly plain.”
“That will do.”
Landry stood up and reached for her hand. He pulled Bianca to her feet and then picked up the beach towel. He shook it out and folded it. Bianca put it in the bag, which she then quickly zipped shut. Landry took the bag from her, and they slowly retraced their steps hand-in-hand.
“Here we go – Senior Land,” said Bianca, as they approached the hedge opening.
Landry looked at his watch. “Nope. It’s past five o’clock. They’ll all be out hunting down the Early Bird Specials on the mainland.”
Bianca laughed and nodded. She knew Landry was right. She also knew that there were more than the harmless Hampton Inn seniors waiting for her out there.
Oh yes…
They were about to go out in the public.
Chapter 10
They each went their separate ways, agreeing that forty-five minutes would be an appropriate amount of time to wait before heading out. Bianca knew Landry had to be back by nine. She shook the sand out of her hair and then showered. She did her hair and makeup and blessed the decision she and Valerie had finally made to throw in the dress, because, well, you never knew…
A truly sane person would have thrown in shoes to match, remarked her brain sarcastically. Especially someone who buys shoes for a living.
Bianca sighed and cast a glance at the two pages taped to the picture which she had ignored up to this point.
That’s what I did for a living last week, she mused. I wonder what I’ll be doing next week.
She looked at the meager selection of shoes she had brought with her. The sneakers were out. She didn’t even know why she’d packed those. Nobody in her right mind jogged or played tennis in Florida in August.
That left two pair of sandals. One pair was very casual, a slip-on walk-on-the-beach type. But they were a better color match than the dressier pair, which were a dark leather Huarache-type.
Bianca could hear her mother’s voice now. “If he even notices the shoes, then you missed completely with the rest of the outfit.”
Thus, she decided on the Huaraches. They were more comfortable and didn’t make that flip-flop noise when she walked like the other pair did.
She added a gold chain and some tiny starfish ear studs to complete the ensemble. She stood in front of the mirror and looked for flaws. Nope, looking fine. Now if she could just keep her mouth shut, everything would be great. She grimaced at her image in the mirror. Faint hope of that!
Rio’s was in a beautiful environment. It was approached from a long, sweeping drive that passed magnificent gardens. Bianca still couldn’t see the restaurant even when Landry finally turned into the parking lot at the top of the drive. A young man in uniform took the car keys from Landry and asked if they had a reservation. Landry said no, but if there wasn’t room, they’d eat on the patio.
“Nah,” said the young man, “there’s tons of room on a Wednesday in August. It’s just that if you have a reservation, I call up and tell them and they can greet you by name at the door.”
‘Up’ turned out to be right. They climbed a long staircase of wide steps that meandered its way up under a canopy of trees. They walked hand-in-hand. That thrilled Bianca. This was definitely ‘out in public’, yet Landry hadn’t hesitated.
Or maybe, said her brain, he’s holding your hand to keep it off him.
Good thought, she mused, because I would definitely be all over this.
Landry was wearing a pair of dark pants and a cream shirt that looked like it was made of handkerchief linen. It had an embossed weave-pattern thing happening that cha
nged as he moved and made Bianca want to rip it from his well-defined shoulders.
The maître d’ seated them at a table by the window and handed them menus. The view over the ocean was magnificent, and so was the interior of the restaurant. There was a huge aquarium in the middle filled with all kinds of bright, tropical fish, and on each table was a pale pink damask cloth on which sat a slender glass vase with bird of paradise rising out of it.
A young man came by and filled their glasses with ice water. A second, older waiter glided by a minute later to inquire if they would like a drink.