He stood, picked her up in his arms, and stepped back down into the water.
Leaning up against the poolside he expertly and smoothly guided her, lowering her onto him until she felt the incredible heat and gloriousness of his manhood slide deep within her. She almost fainted with the pleasure, and leaned against his broad chest for a minute. Then she moved on him.
The water rushed around them. He held her and moved her until together they were like music.
The sound and sensations of their lovemaking rushed into her head and made her crazy, just crazy with lust. Their bodies were part of the water, and the water flowed with their movements.
He raised her and took her breast in his hot mouth, and suddenly she was spinning into the darkness, stars exploding behind her eyes. As he held her she arched backward against him and let go of everything holding her back. She dug her fingernails into his strong shoulders and cried out his name again and again. At that moment, he howled like an animal as he reached his release, a throbbing explosion inside her that made her release come all over again. Then she fell back against him, and he held her close.
She sobbed and put her forehead against his shoulder, letting the tears slide down into the water. He put his arms around her, picked her up, and carried her out of the pool to a wooden platform covered with thick black towels.
He dried her off gently for a minute, then quickly dried himself and carried her to his bed.
They lay closely together in the dark. He stroked her hair and her forehead until she fell asleep in his arms all night long.
It was cold where the back of her body stuck out of the covers. Kelly opened one eye, then the other. Sam had most of the covers slung over him. Early-morning light filtered through the billowy silk curtains of Sam’s bedroom windows.
She quietly pulled the silky cotton duvet around her shoulders and burrowed into his bed. Sam’s warm back was against her, and she held very still, savoring the feel of him. His essence was all around her.
Whatever she supposed was the rightness or wrongness of her actions, she didn’t care right now. She would sort all that out in her mind later. Right now all she knew was that she belonged here next to Sam. Like she was filling a space that was intended just for her. She went back to sleep pressed up against him.
There was a knock at the door that made both of them sit straight up in bed. Kelly instinctively clutched the covers to her front. Sam bolted out of bed naked.
He grabbed a pair of silk boxers out of a drawer, and danced into them, walking at the same time. A huge grin started across her mouth, and she stuffed her face in the pillow to laugh.
She heard him stop and probably look out the view hole to the hall, she guessed. There was a long silence. Then Sam opened the door. Now, who rated a peek at Sam in his boxers?
She stopped laughing and almost got up to find out, but he quickly reappeared in the bedroom carrying an enormous basket.
He stood there, basket in hand, and looked at her for a moment. He tipped his head to the right, then the left, as if trying to focus on her face. A very, very amused look came over him.
“Very funny, Grayson. Well, this is what I look like in the morning when I sleep on wet hair. What’s with the basket?”
“It seems there are no secrets in Paradise.” He came over, set down the basket on the night-stand, and eased himself back into bed, taking her in his arms.
His kisses started softly against her neck, then turned sensual and hot. She wrapped her arms around his broad, muscular back and luxuriated in his passion until she was mindless.
They made love with the heat of the sun streaming in on them.
Sometime later, Kelly stretched languidly, rousing Sam from his half-draped-over-her position. He was toying with her wild hair.
“The basket?” she murmured.
“Here’s the card.” He reached for it and read:
“To our two favorite friends. Life is a picnic, so eat! P.S. Don’t worry about work for a while, you are on wellness leave.
Love, Myrtle, Dottie, Cora, and Mrs. P.”
“Boy, the old ladies in Paradise are a little different than what I am used to!”
“I assume this means I have their blessing to seduce you repeatedly.” Sam ran his hand down her side and over her hip.
“Not until I brush my teeth. Do you have a spare toothbrush? I seem to have no clothes, no shoes, and no equipment.”
“That will get you service around here for sure. There’s a new one in the medicine cabinet.”
Kelly slid out of bed and padded naked to the adjoining bath.
“So tell me, what’s in there? I’m starving,” she called through the door.
“Here’s a list on the back of the card. Dottie’s orange-currant scones, Cora sent a thermos of coffee, and homemade biscuits, and wild clover honey. Hey, I can think of a few uses for that. Mrs. P. put in fresh squeezed orange juice. Myrtle put in…a can of whipped cream. Hmmmm, I wonder what that’s for?”
“I don’t know whether to be grateful or mortified.” Kelly emerged from the bathroom naked and ran for the covers. “Sam, I’m naked.”
“I noticed.” He warmed her. “You can borrow my pajama tops like Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night, or I can just keep you warm.”
“How about both?” Kelly reached over him and grabbed a pear out of the basket. Sam got up out of bed, letting her browse over his fine body once again. She hadn’t noticed the muscles on his legs last night; they were amazing. And since he’d lost his silk boxers again—there was that great behind of his.
As he headed across the room he glanced behind him and caught her looking at him. He smiled and winked.
Sam managed to find her a pajama top and even set up their goodies enough to take a huge tray back to bed. The coffee was still steaming, and Kelly put whipped cream in hers.
She fed him bites of pear and a piece of scone with honey, which he licked off her fingers. Pretty soon she was deeply involved in his ability to devour honey and whipped cream off of her midriff, and then Sam got very creative, and then she got very creative back, and then he got more creative. Between moans of pleasure, she begged him to stop.
The day moved into night and Kelly stood at the kitchen window, having reclaimed “her” pajama top, to watch the sun slide behind the hills. She didn’t care about anything anymore except being happy with Sam.
Sam came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and held her in his warmth. She could feel the strength of his bare chest. She had never felt this safe in her life. She turned around to face him and melted into his kiss, then put her cheek against his chest.
“Can we just stay here forever?” she murmured.
“Let’s see, this is Sunday. I think we can have at least today without the outside world disturbing us.”
She lifted her face and looked in his eyes. Let’s curl up in bed and watch old movies. You do like old movies, don’t you?”
“Musical, Western, or drama?”
“Comedy…love, you know, chick movies.”
“I’m willing to sacrifice for a good cause. You check my film archives and see what’s available.”
“Sam?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Sam kissed her again, slowly, lovingly, in answer. Then he took her hand and led her to the movie cabinet in his bedroom. She was amazed at the range of movies he had. He went back to the kitchen while she browsed.
Kelly decided to test Sam’s resolve and picked Music Man, a nice sappy musical. She went over to the TV and started deciphering the remotes.
“That one with the purple buttons runs everything,” Sam called from the kitchen.
She heard popcorn beginning to pop. “Psychic guy, huh?”
Sam rummaged in the freezer for ice cubes and clinked a few in two glasses. He pulled a couple sodas from the fridge and got a bowl for the popcorn. He leaned against the counter, waiting for the popcorn to finish.
He fel
t a deep satisfaction in his body. Their lovemaking was incredible. Maybe he had tamed the skittish cat at last. Now she was in his blood, and even thinking of her, her silky skin, her long legs, made his head rush and his body respond.
He wanted to see her in his bed every morning. For as long as he could, anyway. All he had to do was be cool and take it slow. Cats always stay where they’re fed.
He took the popcorn out of the microwave and emptied the bag into the bowl. He was going to have to call out for some dinner pretty soon. Catnip and salmon. He balanced the soda glasses and bowl of popcorn in his arms and headed for the bedroom. The familiar strains of “River City” were wafting out of his bedroom, his sister’s favorite movie. Sacrifice. He groaned. Good cause. He kept walking.
“Sam, I have no clothes.” Kelly stood at the window wrapped in Sam’s silk curtains as the Monday morning light streamed in beside her.
“I suppose people might talk if we took you out in the red velvet gown.”
“Not to mention I think it shrank.”
“Hmm, this is an interesting dilemma. How about a pair of my sweats and a sweatshirt?”
“Well, hell, that might get me out to your car and over to Myrtle’s. Bring ’em on.”
Sam pulled a clean pair of gray sweats and his Penn State sweatshirt out of a dresser drawer. Kelly climbed into them, naked underneath.
“I don’t think my clothes have ever been this happy.” Sam reached out for her.
“It’s just a damn good thing they are big on me, ’cause I don’t date guys that wear smaller sizes than I do. Okay, I’m all set. You’ve got your swim class tonight, and me, I’m…”
Kelly broke off from Sam’s embrace and gathered her dried-out belongings up in one of his gym bags he loaned her. She’d finish her sentence, but what would she say? I’m going to find out if I’m still wanted for murder?
She watched Sam in his lawyerly dark olive suit make the rounds of his apartment: water the plants, turn on the answering machine, and get his briefcase. She liked being part of his routine.
She really needed to get back home to Myrtle’s and think.
Back at the Hen House, Myrtle was just finishing up with the every-Monday comb-out on Alice.
“Hi, Mrs. Hutchinson, I hope you have a nice choir rehearsal tonight, and that tenor is going to ask you out for sure tonight, you look stunning.”
“Thanks, dear, and I hope you had a good roll in the sack with Sam. It’s so nice to see you young folks being frisky.”
Oh, my God. Kelly didn’t know what to say. Of course, here she was in Sam’s clothes, including his college sweatshirt, and damn, everyone in town knew. Myrtle laughed silently until tears came down her cheeks.
Kelly went to the nail station and started stripping her old polish off. Two days in Sam’s pool, in Sam’s shower, and in Sam’s bed had left her pretty much a wreck.
Myrtle finished with Alice in record time, sprayed her down, collected her check, and sent her out the door. Then she hurried over to Kelly.
“Spill it, girlfriend, I’m about to burst. Did you like the biscuits? And the whipped cream?” Myrtle sat down across from Kelly, grabbed up her hands, and started stripping red off her nails.
“Yes, everything was divine. Not very subtle, though, you guys are so bad.”
“The time for pussyfootin’ around is over, dearie. Let’s hear the story.”
Kelly told Myrtle the basic details, leaving out some of the deliciously private variations on their weekend. After all, she did have some secrets worth keeping.
“I told you he was the one.”
“You were right. I’ve decided to marry him.”
Myrtle’s eyes widened about up to her finely drawn eyebrows.
“Did he ask you?”
“No.”
“Well, I’ll be a ring-tailed pheasant. It worked even better than we thought.”
“What worked?”
“Oh, all the matchmaking me and Dottie Williamson have been up to, you know.”
“Oh, that. Yes, it did, so give yourself a big pat on the back and paint my nails pink. Pink is a good nonexistent-engagement color.”
Kelly couldn’t stop smiling. Her body was tired and ached in places she had forgotten about. She leaned back in the red leatherette chair and relaxed while Myrtle gabbed excitedly on about weddings and rings and photographers.
It all sounded great. A wonderful fantasy. She didn’t even know why she’d said it, but after being made love to by Sam for two days she just felt like it was possible. She knew she was falling for him hard. The thought of him made her crazy and happy and warm all at the same time.
Too bad none of it was true. Her smile faded. Sam would never marry her. She was going to be found out, and he’d hate her. Then there was that pile of money under her bed. She was going to take a nap, get cleaned up, and go over to his office. It was time to come clean with Sam. She couldn’t in any way justify not telling him that Raymond was dead.
Kelly showered, then lay down and slept a deep, middle-of-the-morning sleep.
She dreamed of a wedding dress, very floaty, with layers of silk organza and a beaded lace bodice. It was the kind of dress that made you look like a princess. There was a diamond crown in her hair, and her veils were floating on the summer breeze.
Sam stood at the altar waiting for her in a gray morning suit. He watched her come down the aisle by herself. When she came very close, he tucked one daisy into her bouquet. She looked down at it, then back to his face.
Sam became Raymond. Her dress turned into white leather, her veil was ripped, mud-stained high-heeled boots were on her feet. Her hair turned into black crow feathers.
She dropped her bouquet and backed away, then turned and ran down the white church runner, dropping black feathers all the way down the aisle. Her screams became a caw-caw-cawing.
Kelly’s eyes stung with tears. She pulled the covers closer around her for a minute, then flung them off and got up. She was going to get ready.
She slipped into a silk camisole and matching panties from the back of her drawer and contemplated her closet. Her beige capri pants and a silk blouse would do. Some of the clothes she had packed for her honeymoon with Raymond. A little on the summery side, but still okay in this good weather they’d been having. Simple but sexy would be perfect. Her hair was trashed, but with some combing her new, softer waves sprang back to life.
Her hands shook as she buttoned the tiny buttons up her blouse front. She added a pair of beige sandals to let her peachy-pink-painted toenails show and threw her beige sweater over her shoulders. Her thoughts were racing as she dressed.
Before she went to Sam’s she needed somewhere quiet and private to make a call to Caroline again. Kelly looked at Myrtle’s statue of Mary that sat on a high dresser. She was made of shells with a beautifully painted face. Another New Orleans treasure.
“Give me strength,” she prayed out loud.
Chapter 12
“How was the benefit? Grand as always?” Faith slid a cup of coffee onto Sam’s desk and stood there waiting.
“It was the best one I’ve ever been to. Of course, I know that the entire town knows every detail of my life for the last two days, so I hardly need to fill you in, do I?”
“Hardly. I packed the basket.”
“Thank you. I live in a fishbowl, but thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Bring my linens back in when you get a chance, will you?” Faith turned and exited, humming her way out the door.
Sam tried to focus on his work. He checked his schedule calendar. He straightened his desk up. He gave up and paced, staring out the window at Paradise. Faith knocked on the door and brought him the Seattle Times. She’d turned it to the society section. There on the pages of a large metropolitan newspaper was a picture of him in his tux and Kelly in her red dress.
“Son of prominent art philanthropist Samuel Grayson II had a ball at Seattle Art Museum benefit this Saturday with his Lady in Red.”
> Shit! If Raymond Bianchi was smart and hired a private agency, he’d track Kelly down in no time after that picture. He had to do something. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.
Faith knocked on the door and stuck her head in. “Kelly’s here.”
Sam strode out the office door quickly. Faith jumped out of the way. Kelly looked surprised—and smooth as silk in her beige outfit. He took her arm and pulled her into the office.
“Kelly, your picture, our picture, is in the paper. The Seattle paper.”
Kelly grabbed up the paper and stared. “That’s a good picture. Wow.”
“I don’t know what kind of resources Raymond has, but he could possibly track you down from that photo. I think you should stay with me for a while.”
“Sam, there’s something you need to know.”
Faith’s voice came through the intercom. “Sam, Peter Brody on line one. You asked me to tell you if his call came in.
“Thanks, I’ll take it.” Sam sat behind his desk and picked up the phone. “This will be helpful. I’m glad you’re here.” Sam pushed his phone line button. “Pete, what’ve you got for me?”
Kelly was not glad. She felt sick. She curled up into one of the office chairs and watched Sam nodding to his friend. This must be his lawyer buddy from L.A. Would Brody know about her? She wanted to tell Sam herself. She was ready to tell him.
Sam had a look of concern on his face as he listened to his friend on the phone. That was normal. She knew the instant it happened—the instant normal changed to horrible. His eyes fastened on her, and he stopped answering his friend. His responses became short and curt. He said words like “when?” and “no” with a precision she’d never seen him use. All the time he never took his eyes off her.
Until the call was finished. He set the phone down deliberately. He lowered his gaze to his desk and stared at the leather blotter for a long, silent minute.
“Let me explain.”
Talk of the Town Page 15