Yes, I Do

by Gwynne Forster

  “You’ll do well. I’ve checked decorators’ work in New York, Washington and practically every major city I visit. You can hold your own with the best of them.”

  “I owe you a hug for that.”

  “I could use a hug, too. There’s an old movie at the Rialto that I’d love to see with you, but I know you aren’t going out with me as long as you’re at Burton’s. What about driving over to Danvers and getting a cone of ice cream at the ice cream factory? I need a kiss.”

  “Okay. I love ice cream.”

  “You love ice cream? Woman, the point here is for you to kiss me.”

  “That, too,” she said, enjoying teasing him. “I’ll be ready when you get here.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  She dashed up the stairs, flung off her T-shirt and shorts, slipped on a white embroidered peasant blouse and street-length red and white peasant skirt and some big silver hoop earrings, combed out her hair, grabbed a pair of espadrilles and raced down the stairs. She finished tying the last shoe as the doorbell rang.

  “Hi,” she said to him, so casually that she almost fooled herself.

  His grin eclipsed his face. “You’re not fooling me. You almost broke your neck getting dressed before I got here. I love it! I’m not waiting until we drive to Danvers and back. I want my kiss now.”

  She stroked his left cheek with her right hand. “No point in being strident about it. All you have to do is take it.”

  She didn’t know when or how her feet left the floor, but he was holding her chest to chest and belly to belly. His tongue plowed into her mouth, and she sucked it in greedily, loving it and feasting on it. Suddenly, he penned her between himself and the wall, and smothered her face with kisses as his hands roamed over her body, her hips, back, shoulders, neck and—

  “Oh, Lord,” she moaned, and his hand stroked her breast. “Oh, Justin. Justin.” He pulled the ample globe from the bodice of her blouse and bent his head. Nearly out of her mind with desire for him, she held it and he sucked its nipple into his mouth. She let out a scream and undulated helplessly against him. It was too much. Nothing and no man had ever made her feel like that.

  “Stop,” she said softly. “Please stop. I can’t bear it.”

  “Are you angry with me?”

  “No. No. I was a willing participant. I never felt anything like it. Nothing. No one. I…I don’t think I have the strength to stand on my own two feet. We’d better go get that ice cream.”

  He didn’t move. “I told you that something important was going on between us, and I think we ought to try and sort it out.”

  She eased down until her feet touched the floor, and he straightened her blouse. “How can we work out anything as long as I’m at Burton’s? You’re special to me, but I have to keep my integrity. That’s also important to me.”

  “I’m not going to stay away from you, Deanna. I can’t, and I don’t want to. I need to be with you. You give me something that no other person, thing or situation does, and I need it.”

  “Let’s go get the ice cream.” She looked in the foyer mirror to check her blouse. “Do you really like this outfit? It’s Hungarian. I bought it at a fair in New Jersey.”

  “I love it. It’s so feminine. Let’s go before I cross the line. I came pretty close to it a minute ago, and I don’t want to do that.”

  “Never mind. I won’t let you.”

  His laugh was short and almost cynical. “Yes, I know. Like you were helping me a minute ago. You were as lost as I was. But at least you’re not a phony.” She let that pass.

  “This is the best ice cream I ever ate,” she said as they left the ice cream parlor, and she would have licked her lips if he hadn’t been gazing at her mouth.

  “You do something to me.” His fleeting kiss barely touched her mouth before he draped an arm over her shoulder and walked with her on the flat stone path toward the back of the restaurant. “Let’s check out the moon over that creek. This is a fantastic night.”

  Deanna tried to assess his mood. She wouldn’t call it pos sessive, but it seemed to her that he was giving himself some previously unused licenses. Did she mind? She told herself to wait and see how far he took it and what guarantees accompanied the privileges he assumed. Standing with him in the moonlight with their bodies reflected in the still water of the creek, she turned to him and put an arm around his waist.

  “It’s so beautiful, Justin. I’d hate to stand here alone on a night like this.”

  “I was thinking the same thing. I’m alone almost all the time, even when I’m working, because almost nobody treats me as an equal. I don’t ask for it; I inherited it, and I am not complaining, but when I’m with you, the world just seems different. I think I’ll get half a gallon of that peach and put it in my freezer.”

  “But you didn’t eat the peach.”

  He hugged her to him so tightly that she wondered if something bothered him. “I didn’t eat peach, but you did.” He left the meaning of that comment to her interpretation.

  Deanna’s opportunity to establish her own business came sooner than she had thought it would. She accompanied one of Burton’s wealthiest and most long-standing clients through the three “family” rooms that she had decorated and furnished. She wondered at the man’s interest in them, since they were intended to meet the needs of middle-class individuals.

  “I’ve been looking at your work for some time,” he told her. “My cook’s retiring, and my wife and I are settling her in a two-bedroom house over in Danvers. She’s been with us forty-five years, so we’re taking care of her. Another thing. My niece wants her new twenty-three-room house on the Albemarle Sound decorated and furnished. I’ve told her about you, and she’s ready to make a deal with you. Of course, I’d like you to take care of my cook’s house over in Danvers. At her age, furnishing it would be beyond her.”

  Deanna did her best to appear as if such deals were commonplace for her and thanked him. “I’ll do my best, sir.”

  After meeting Netta Cross, the man’s niece, Deanna decided that, although she wasn’t crazy about the woman, she couldn’t refuse her huge offer. She reminded herself of Justin’s comment that most of the rich don’t appreciate a thing unless it’s very expensive. She signed the two contracts, and marbles rattled in her stomach as she became Deanna Lawford & Associates, Inc., Interior Decorators.

  With shaky fingers, she dialed Justin’s cell phone number. “Hello.”

  The sound of his low and mellifluous voice added to her turmoil. She told him what she’d done and waited for words of caution and criticism. “Congratulations, Deanna. I’m happy and excited for you. You’ve got precisely what it takes. Netta Cross always used my store, but you would do a much better job for her than my guys have done. We need to celebrate. Let’s have dinner and then go to the Watering Hole where everybody will see us.”

  Hmm. So he really had been bothered about their seeing each other clandestinely. “Wonderful. I’ll look forward to it. By the way, you mean your store decorated for both Ms. Cross and Mr. Motley?”

  “Well, yeah. Where else would they go? How about I pick you up at seven and we eat at Gourmet Corner?”

  “That would be super. See you at seven.” She hung up slowly. Did he want her to believe he was happy for her, when she’d just taken two big jobs from his store? He may think he meant it, but she didn’t believe it. She’d better watch herself.

  “What’s the problem, Deanna?” Justin asked her when she opened the door for him that evening. “We do have a date, don’t we?”

  She hadn’t counted on such perceptiveness from Justin, and she knew she had better level with him. She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. “You’re right, something is bothering me, and it’s probably just me. I can’t understand how you can be happy about my going out on my own when I’m taking away two of your clients.”

  When he shoved his hands into his pockets and slouched against the wall, she wished she hadn’t brought up the subject. Had she forgot
ten that Justin did not permit his fields to go untended?

  “So, you think I’m capable of duplicitous behavior! Well, I am not. Cross and Motley like your work, so they would have found a way to get you to do the jobs whether on your own, at Burton’s store or another place. Neither of them cares two hoots about loyalty to McCall’s or any other place or person. And they won’t have any loyalty to you.”

  “I have a lot to learn, so I hope I don’t exasperate you, at least not regularly.”

  That remark brought a smile from him, and he gathered her to him in a fierce hug. “If someone drives a wedge between you and me, Deanna, I won’t be that person.”

  “I don’t want to be the one to do that, either, Justin, but I know I’m not perfect.”

  He raised an eyebrow at that. “Touché!”

  He’d dressed carefully for their date, because he wanted Deanna to know that he took pride in his relationship with her and wanted everyone to know that they were a couple. He’d hesitated while tying his tie. They hadn’t settled that matter, but they would before he slept. He wanted to know where he stood with her and what he meant to her. He only had to touch her and she glowed like a hot coal. Was it because of him, or would she fire up like that for any man? He didn’t believe that and he wanted her to verify it. And another thing: if she got into financial trouble with her business, he’d be the last person to know it, and that irritated him. Still, he preferred that to dates who asked him for a twenty dollar bill for the lavatory attendant, when he knew the poor woman got fifty cents, or a dollar at best.

  “That’s the best crown roast of pork I’ve ever tasted,” Deanna said to Kix when he came to their table. “It must be gratifying to be able to cook like that.”

  “I’ve had years of practice,” the owner and head chef of Gourmet Corner told her, “and I began by studying at the Cordon Bleu School in Paris. Like anything else, you need a thorough knowledge of your craft.”

  “Deanna is an interior decorator,” Justin said, his voice colored with pride.

  Kix looked from one to the other. “When I redo this place, which one of you do I call? Do you work together?”

  “She has her own company,” Justin said quickly, “and she’s definitely superior to the guys who work for me. So don’t hesitate to call her.”

  Kix appraised Justin with respect. “Way to go, man. Cassie and I have always said that you’re one of the few true gentlemen we know.”

  “Thanks, Kix,” Justin said without the semblance of a smile. “Every recommendation helps.” He looked at Deanna. “Why not give him your card?”

  “Give me a handful of them, and I’ll put them in the lounge.” She gave the cards to Kix and thanked him. “And thanks for the wonderful meal,” she added.

  Justin drove to the Watering Hole, where he knew he’d probably see half of the people he knew by first name. But he didn’t plan to be there long, for he had other, more important things on his agenda. He ordered a bottle of Moët and Chandon champagne, toasted Deanna and greeted the dozen or so people who passed close enough to their table to confirm that he was indeed with Deanna Lawford.

  “We’ve aroused their curiosities and given them enough fodder for a month of steady gossip, so I’d like to leave now, if you don’t mind.” Her facial expression was that of one totally bemused, so he stood, leaned over and kissed her. When she gasped at his brazenness, he laughed aloud. He’d caused at least one female in there to come near fainting, and he didn’t mind one bit. Hopefully, she realized from his having kissed his date in public that she should stop pestering him with phone calls and invitations that he never accepted.

  He held Deanna’s hand as they left Woodmore’s most famous gathering place. And to assure her that he was in a good mood, he launched into “Blueberry Hill,” Louis Armstrong’s hit. “I knew it. I told you that you could sing,” she said.

  “I already knew it,” he said, feeling good and doing his best to bring her into his element.

  He parked in front of her house, and walked with her to her door where he held out his hand for her key. He unlocked the door, opened it and looked down at her. “I want to come in with you.”

  “I rather sensed that,” she said and walked in leaving him to follow.

  After locking the door, she turned on the foyer and living room lights. “Have a seat. We should have brought the remainder of that champagne with us. I have the bottle of white wine that we didn’t drink when you were here before. Would you like some?”

  He had to do something to put her at ease. “I’d rather listen to some music.”

  She walked over to him and, standing before him, she braced her hands on his shoulders, kissed his forehead and asked him, “What’s the matter? Is everything all right with you?”

  “No,” he blurted out. “I want the right to tell people that you’re my girl and to introduce you that way. If you think I’m not good enough to introduce to your family and friends, tell me, and I’ll take a hike.”

  She sat on his knee. “What on earth’s the matter with you, and what are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about I want to know where I stand with you. I haven’t been near another woman since I saw you trying to buy those candles in my store. I want to know if you and I can make a go of this. Do you have another guy? If I didn’t call you or ask to see you, you’d let more than a week go by without seeing or hearing from me. You’ve done it. Don’t you care about me?”

  “Yes, I care a lot about you, and if you’d told me this before, we might not be having this conversation right now. You know that as long as I was at Burton’s, I didn’t feel free to get…oh, you know what I mean.”

  He pulled her closer and cradled her in his arms. “You don’t work for Burton’s now, so is there a reason why you won’t be my girl, I’m not seeing anybody, and I don’t want any other man’s hands on you. I’ve never been more serious, Deanna. Talk to me.”

  “There’s no one else, Justin, and…yes, we can date on a regular basis.”

  “Look, baby. That’s fine, but…oh, hell.” He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, stroked her from her shoulders to her knees, caressed her buttocks and trailed his tongue from her neck to her cleavage. “This is what I want,” he said, feeling as if he’d drool if he couldn’t get her nipple into his mouth.

  “Give it to me.”

  She lifted her left breast from the confines of her dress. He licked the nipple and then sucked it into his mouth. Tremors shook her. I’m not leaving here tonight until she’s mine. He let the fingers of his right hand play with her knee, threatening to go higher, but seeming not to dare. Her moans excited him, and he snaked his hand up her thigh, but hesitated, fearing the result if he claimed the prize. When he suckled more vigorously, her body moved from side to side and her moans began to sound like pleas. Suddenly, she raised her right knee in what was clearly an invitation.

  He covered her breast and stood, all the while cradling her in his arms. “Where is your bedroom?”

  Upstairs on the right. Within minutes, he had her in bed and her skirt and blouse on the floor beside it. “Are you protected?”

  “No. I haven’t needed to be.”

  “It’s all right. I’ll take care of it.” He put the condom beneath the pillow, got in beside her, put his arms around her and, looking down into her face, he asked, “Is there anything I should know? No matter what it is, tell me.” He didn’t want to make a mistake with her, because he sensed that if he did, he might regret it for the remainder of his life.

  She reached up and kissed him. “I haven’t had a lot of experience with this, and I haven’t been successful at it.”

  “Trust me, and we’ll make each other happy.”

  “I’d trust you with my life.”

  “You upset me even in my dreams, and when you look at me like that… Deanna, sweetheart, I need you to love me. This is it for me.”

  She gazed up into his face and his expression of love and adoration nearly took her breat
h. “You’re everything to me.”

  “Shhh. I want you to love me. I’ll teach you to care for me.”

  “I already care for you.”

  “I want you to love me. I need it.”

  His lips adored her eyes, cheeks, ears, the hollow of her neck and when she parted her lips, he let her have his tongue. But only for a few seconds. He sucked one nipple into his mouth and toyed with the other one until she began to writhe beneath him, undulating and begging for penetration.

  “Why won’t you get in me?” She reached down to take him but he wouldn’t allow it.

  “You’re not ready, and if I went in now, I could hurt you. I’m a big man.” He kissed a line down to her navel while his hand teased the inside of her thigh just close enough to her vulva to heighten her desire.

  “Can’t you…? Honey, I’m burning up. I’m not used to this.”

  He opened her legs, hooked her knees over his shoulders and kissed her. Screams poured out of her as his tongue found the right spot and he worked at her until she shouted, “Get in me. Something’s happening.”

  Heat seared the bottom of her feet, her legs and thighs trembled and she thought she would die. He rose above her and she looked into his face as he smiled. “Take me in, baby. Take me in your hands and let me in.”

  She didn’t let herself wonder how she would accommodate him because he was big, but he slipped in with little difficulty, and began to rock.

  “Are you comfortable?”

  “Yes. Yes.” His rapid and powerful strokes drove her nearly senseless, taking her to the brink, bringing her back and when she thought she would lose the sensation that surged in her, he said, “All right. Be still now.” Then he rocked her until the pumping and swelling began, the contractions in her womb and in her vagina shook her until she screamed aloud as she erupted into orgasm and gripped his penis with such strength that he trembled uncontrollably, tightened his buttocks and splintered in her arms.

  “You’re mine, Deanna. You will always be mine.” The words tumbled out of him, neither arrogantly nor possessively, but as the plea of a man humbled by love. “You’re precious to me,” he whispered. “Give me a chance to teach you to love me.” He braced himself on his elbows and smiled down at her. “How do you feel?”