by Shurr, Lynn
“No worries, sweetness. We’ll have this all cleared up by the New Year.”
“But your truck is you, what you’d be if you were a truck, I mean. Big, rugged, electric blue, ready for anything, and a little overbearing. How will you get to work if you lose it?”
“I know you wanted to say ‘a lot overbearing’, so thanks for that, but it’s only a vehicle, babe. You’d loan me your car if I needed it, right?”
“Right, though I can hardly imagine you behind the wheel of my hybrid.”
“Ahem,” the lawyer said. “I do have another closing in an hour. If we could proceed.”
Merlin removed the papers from her grip and signed his truck over to the bank for the time being. He took the new mortgage, rolled it in his fist, and tapped the wad of papers against the flawless, polished surface of the boardroom table. “That’s that.”
Rising, Merlin shook the lawyer’s hand and gave Daisy a peck on the cheek that left her so flustered her charm bracelet tinkled. “Want to go to lunch and celebrate, Jane? How about the Golden Dragon Chinese Buffet since you think I need more vegetables in my life.”
“Okay, if you promise not to eat only the brown side of the buffet.”
“The brown side?”
“Yes, fried egg rolls, fried fish, popcorn shrimp, breaded sweet and sour pork, sesame chicken, etc.”
“I think they have boiled shrimp and crabs on Fridays. I’ll bring the truck around.” Happy as a Cajun could be on his way to a seafood buffet, Merlin strode out the door deeply in debt and not a bit concerned about it.
The lawyer packed his papers and briskly left the room. Daisy put an arm around Jane’s shoulders and gave her a hug. “My, my, my, maybe you did make the better deal if you’re going to be living with him. I’d heard Merlin Tauzin burned out in the war, but I’d say he has risen from the ashes.”
“No, he will be upstairs. I will be downstairs. We are not living together.”
“Whatever you say, Jane, but I sure wouldn’t miss out on that opportunity. Good luck with your future, honey.”
****
Like Daisy, Merlin lost no time sealing his deal. Louisiana provided great weather for moving on Saturday, one of those freakishly hot December days without a cloud in the sky. Harley came over bright and early to help disassemble the king-sized bed and lug the recliner and big-ass TV into the rear of the truck. They filled in the gaps with boxes of odds and ends and a filthy duffel bag containing most of his non-work clothes. His uniforms, a suit, and a few dress shirts made the trip bagged in plastic on the dry cleaner’s hangers and slung over his leather chair. Merlin backed the entire load across the front lawn as close to the outside stairs as he could. The two men got the oversized chair into the garçonniere and the television before Harley remembered he had to be somewhere.
“Probably somewhere with less work to be done,” Merlin remarked to Jane who hauled the boxes and the duffel bag upstairs. “I can get the bed frame parts and the two box springs up there, no trouble, but you’ll have help with the mattress.”
He took the lead up the narrow stairs with Jane pushing the unwieldy burden one step at a time from behind. At the small doorway, Merlin fought the springs to fold the mattress over and both of them shoved it inch by inch through the opening. Once on the other side, it snapped open and fell flat with a thud.
Merlin wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. “I think I like it there just fine.” Taking Jane with him, he fell back on the mattress and shut the attic door with one swift kick.
“Fair warning, I’m taking off my shirt.” He did exactly that, peeling the sweat-soaked garment off his chest and over his head. It landed in a ball in the general vicinity of the shower. Merlin tucked his hands behind his head and showed off a smoothly muscled chest on a body a little too thin for his size. A mat of black hair plastered down over his pecs. “Look all you want since I got a good gander at yours last time.”
Jane, who had been staring up at the rafters after her exertions, rolled onto her side. “You really expect me to be so inflamed with passion by the sight of a hairy chest that I’d jump you?”
“Nope, but a guy can hope.”
“The only way that would happen is if you took off your pants, too.”
Off came his jeans, his athletic shoes going with them, and no briefs to bother about at all. “See, I’m already inflamed by that suggestion.”
“Impressive,” she admitted, drawing a fingernail lightly down the length of his erection and making it jump like a bass to bait. She cradled his balls and massaged them with her thumb.
“Condom in the rear pocket of my jeans. You’d better suit me up and get mounted because if you keep doing that I will not last.”
Jane found the sheath and smoothed it down his length. He shivered. “Cold?”
“Nope, just get into position quick, and take your top and bra off first. I want to watch your girls jiggle. Oh, just so you know, this has nothing to do with your rent. It is part of the lagniappe I mentioned.”
“Something extra for you or for me?” Perversely, Jane stripped off her jeans, panties, and shoes, but remained in a buttoned-down pale blue shirt with long tails and her bra. She straddled him and began moving over him very slowly.
“For both of us.” His hands cupped her hind cheeks, helping her along, up and down, for a few strokes before they wandered up under the shirttails to her bra hooks. He opened them with a fairly nimble move, pushed the bra away, and moved to the front to tease her nipples and stroke her breasts. His eyes closed.
“What, is unbuttoning the shirt too much work?”
“I have a good imagination. Just keep doing what you’re doing, sugar tits, maybe pick up the pace.”
Jane tweaked his brown nipple in its nest of dark hair.
“Baby, if you think that turned me off, you are so wrong.”
He bucked up against her and pumped his hips relentlessly letting her know that now no longer in control, she only went along for the ride. She was losing it, losing it very rapidly. He pulled her upright by the back of her open collar and rubbed her clit as he pounded into her. She came with a long, drawn out moan as extended as her orgasm. Only two thrusts behind, Merlin released with a final hard thrust and a great gasp. He hooked his fingers in her shirt collar and drew her down to rest on his heaving chest.
“Leaving the shirt on worked out really great for me. You?”
“Oh, yes,” Jane answered, still panting.
“I always knew when to seize an opportunity. You know what I could use now—lunch.”
Jane raised her head. “You expect me to get dressed and trot downstairs to make sandwiches right this minute? Really?”
“Nope, I’ll spring for pizza. Order two large with everything and extra cheese. Forgot my manners. Get one with whatever you want. We can have them for both lunch and dinner unless you want to get chicken from the Fast ’N Fun.”
“Unlike fried chicken, pizza has some redeeming qualities paired with a salad and some fruit. Let’s stick to that. Say, did you remember to empty your refrigerator at the townhouse? Men always forget that little detail. You won’t get a sale if the entire place stinks of rotten food.”
“Nothing in it but beer, and I gave that to Harley for helping. He promised to save the cans.”
Jane found her jeans and panties and climbed into them. When she couldn’t refasten her bra without taking off her shirt, Merlin helped her out. Placing a kiss on the back of her neck, he said, “I’m going to take a shower. Don’t forget to phone for the pizza, extra cheese.”
She heaved her sneaker at him just as he shut the door to the tiny bathroom. He laughed out loud, a good sound, music to her ears actually.
Jane went downstairs to do some washing of her own before placing the order, setting the table, and pouring tall glasses of lemonade made from her bumper crop of lemons. She assembled the rest of the meal and waited.
Fresh, clean-shaven, and smelling great, Merlin arrived in the
kitchen about the same time as the pies. He eyed the salad and apple wedges before opening the top box, then the second one. “You forgot the extra cheese.”
“No, I did not. The last thing you need is extra cheese, but both have everything on them, only mine has no jalapenos. Fair enough?”
“Yep.” He loaded three slices on his plate. “Looks like extra veggies on this.”
“Yep.” Jane took two pieces, her limit for a lunch.
“I think I might need to get one of those little refrigerators for upstairs.”
“You can use mine, yours, ours. Whatever.”
“I want you to keep your doors locked at night and take that key out of the garage. I stay up all hours and lately, I got my appetite back again. I can keep some snacks and cold drinks upstairs if I get my own fridge.”
Jane watched him over the lip of her lemonade glass. “Still don’t trust yourself?”
“Right.”
****
Regardless of what Merlin thought, Jane noted he slept soundlessly above her that night. He showered in the morning, went to church with his granny, had Sunday dinner at Magnolia Villa, but did not go to his mom’s trailer to watch football with Harley. Instead, he invited Jane upstairs to watch Louisiana’s team on his TV because “that one you have downstairs hidden in the cabinet is simply pitiful.”
Jane curled in his recliner while he disassembled the trundle bed under the rafters only bumping his head twice and holding in the curse words. Football players jumped out at her in high-definition.
“I’ll move this to your junk room, the table and chairs, too. I think I need a computer table under that window.”
“I don’t have a junk room!” she protested. “That’s my exercise space.”
“Yeah, I saw the dust on the treadmill.”
“So I go to the Pink Power Palace, the ladies gym in the strip mall. I like to socialize while I exercise.”
“If you can talk, that isn’t exercise.”
“You sound like Nadia,” she pouted.
“Maybe, but I’m better looking. I’d like to use the treadmill before its gears rust. I’m supposed to work out to kill the blues.”
“By all means, do.” Jane bunched her legs and put her arms around them in the big chair. Merlin merely picked up the neat bundle she made and sat her in his lap.
“Don’t be mad now. Come on, uncurl. Let me make you feel better.”
The two-minute warning sounded for the first half. He used that time for foreplay, longer because of all the penalties and time outs, and concluded with an amazing twenty minute halftime performance without ever leaving the recliner.
Still, Merlin would not let Jane stay the night. He did not disturb her rest until he turned on the shower before dawn and clomped down the stairs to leave for work Monday morning. His truck roared off on its way to Intracoastal City, and Jane snuggled into her covers happy he left sober and well rested.
Chapter Twenty
The denial of her unemployment claim came on Monday. Knowing weeks would pass before she got a hearing, Jane filed her appeal immediately. If nothing else, the bad news threw her into a frenzy of list making. Search for jobs on the internet, check. Update resume, check. Call people to ask them for a good reference, check, check, check. Exercise, check. Removing the dust, she used that treadmill to stave off any hint of depression. When her gym membership ended on the thirty-first, she did not plan to renew. Every penny counted now.
She could not, absolutely could not, stay here living off Merlin and retain any pride at all. In return for his kindness, she used some of her excess energy to fix up his garçonniere just a bit to make it more Merlin. Since inactivity drove her crazy, she channeled that positively to make his space more of a home.
Because she’d already paid for the plane ticket long before Thanksgiving, she planned to go to Montana for Christmas. Her parents knew she’d been fired, and the pressure would be on to have her move in with them and look for work in the northwest. She should kiss Louisiana goodbye after the way she’d been treated, but her heart was here, and that heart inexplicably beat hard for Merlin Tauzin.
When Merlin returned on Sunday after dark, she expected him to go immediately upstairs and lock himself in for the night. After he’d seen what she did to his manly territory, he might reconsider, charge down those stairs and give her another “What the fuck!” verbally only. Why should she dress up for a dressing down? Jane took a bath and got comfortable in her pale green robe, nightie, and her pink bunny slippers. She jumped when he knocked on her front door upon arrival instead of going to his room.
“Just wanted you to know I’m back in case you heard noises upstairs.”
He did look toothsome with his black stubble and his slightly wrinkled flight uniform, the sky blue shirt ramping up those blue eyes even more. Totally aware she did not look her best, she went for it anyhow. “Want to come in for a while? Did you have dinner?”
“I ate before I headed home, but sure, I can visit.”
Not the answer she anticipated. He took a seat on her scarred leather sofa and squinted at the show on the television. “What’s playing?”
Jane sat next to him and picked up her cup of herbal tea, her evening drink of choice lately. “PBS, Masterpiece Theatre.”
“You do know the Sinners are playing a night game right now?”
“Didn’t think of it, but feel free to turn the channel. Are you sure you wouldn’t like a snack?”
With the remote in hand, Merlin flicked through the channels until he found the game. “Ahead by seven. Good. What kind of snacks do you have?”
“I have some of the pizza from last weekend that I haven’t picked the jalapenos off yet.”
“That’s still here? Sounds great. I used to live on those all week, then go out for Chinese every Friday, fried chicken Saturday, and dinner at the Villa on Sunday. Heat it up for me, honey bunny. No, no, go for the field goal!”
“Nice to have you back, Merlin.”
“Right.” His eyes stayed on the game.
She heated the pizza and added lots of red pepper flakes to get his attention. Upon delivery, he did take notice. “Ai-yi-yi, that’s got some kick.” He gave her a sly glance away from the television. “I like it when you take it up a notch, pumpkin.”
Alarmed, she said, “Pumpkin? Am I putting on weight from lying around the house? I’ve been using the treadmill to stay in shape.”
“From here your shape looks good to me, Jane, but if you want to be sure, you can open that robe and let me form a more personal opinion.”
“Oh, eat your pizza.”
He did, but warned, “Halftime coming up, and you know what I can accomplish in a halftime. Damn! I knew they wouldn’t make that two-point conversion. But still, ahead at the half. Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Up to my place and the king-sized bed.”
“It’s late. I’m not dressed!”
“Like that matters.”
Merlin threw her over a shoulder and started for the outside stairs. Jane put up a token protest by beating on his back with her fists and kicking her heels. But really, wasn’t seduction better than falling to their death from that staircase? He opened his door and stopped dead. She slid down the front of his chest.
“What’s this?”
“I’m not used to being idle. Those rag rugs didn’t go with your recliner. I bought the new ones on sale. Found a great deal on the black lacquer computer desk on Craig’s List. The wife said it showed dust too much and the husband delivered it. They threw in the desk chair, too. The electrician traded out the lights for me and gave me a good deal on the replacements. You needed something more contemporary than the lanterns. I installed the stainless steel bars between the beams for you to hang up your clothes and the red storage boxes are only from Wal-Mart, but you can use them for your underwear and T-shirts. They fit really neatly under the slanted roof and make a good use of space. Oh, and I got the little refrigerator and microwav
e cheap from a college student who graduated this month. I put up some shelves for canned goods and snacks, too. No charge for my work, but you might count it toward my rent. All the bills are on the desk. I know you are good for the expenses.”
“Yeah, I forgot for a while that I am good for some things.”
Merlin walked around and took in the changes to his space: the modern, geometric-patterned rugs in black, red, and gray, the sleek, stainless steel lighting fixtures that resembled inverted pie plates, the glossy desk, the red storage units. He took a closer look at the last, bending low to avoid a bump to the head and opened a drawer. His extra underwear lay neatly folded alongside some brand new boxer briefs deep blue in color.
Still standing by the door in case he made a move to boot her down the stairs, Jane continued to babble, defending and explaining all her choices. “I used the size off your old ones which are in such poor condition no wonder you rarely wear any. The blue doesn’t nearly match your eyes though. You needed new athletic socks, too. Well, you left all your clothes smashed together in that grungy duffel bag so I put them away. I washed the bag, and you can use it to haul your dirty laundry downstairs to my washer and dryer. I mean your washer and dryer.”
She paused long enough for him to get a few words out. “Our washer and dryer. Tell me I don’t have red and black matching towels.”
“The ones you had in that box were practically rags, and no, a nice shade of gray and very fluffy. I put the beige ones from here in my bathroom where they blend.”
“Red pillows and a shiny black spread on my bed?”
“You had no bedspread at all. Old army blankets do not count. The pillows are accent pieces. The new sheets are pale gray.” She stopped talking and tried to read his expression. Bemused? The word did not really fit Merlin Tauzin. “You don’t like it?”
“Actually, I’ve never had a place this nice and don’t know what to say. I think it will grow on me. Thanks, Jane.” He seemed to struggle with the simple words, swallowing, and dropping his glance to stare at the new rug underfoot.