The Glory Game

by Janet Dailey

  That had been the last time she went out with Max. Since then, there had been two other boys who had managed to show her there was some pleasure to be derived from sex. Now Trisha found herself wondering what it would be like for Raul to hold her—for him to kiss her breasts and caress her body—the weight of him settling onto her. The thought aroused a quivering ache between her thighs.

  Sighing, Trisha turned the key in the ignition, and the motor rumbled to life. As she reversed the small car out of the parking space, she saw the headlights of an approaching car. She supposed it was the veterinarian Raul was expecting. Once on the road, she floored the accelerator, sending the car shooting forward.

  * * *

  By two o’clock in the morning, the last of the guests had departed. The caterers had cleared away most of the debris. Luz supervised the replacement of the furniture with efficiency, but inside she was tight and angry.

  Drew wandered into the living room as she directed two of the hired staff who were moving the striped companion chair. “Turn it more to the left.”

  “Where’s Trisha? Has she gone to bed already? I’ve hardly seen her all evening.”

  Luz was surprised he’d noticed their daughter’s absence at all. He’d hardly left Claudia Baines’s side for more than two minutes all evening. She’d had to watch them laughing and talking together all night, dancing close together, or Drew’s arm so familiarly draped around her shoulders. Then she’d had to stand silently by while he kissed her good night at the door. It all left her cold with rage.

  “Her date stood her up, so she’s been in her room most of the evening,” she replied stiffly.

  “She should be out here helping you.”

  “I believe she’s finishing her packing.”

  “Oh.” He tiredly rubbed the back of his neck. “I could use some coffee. Is there any left?”

  “Check in the kitchen.” Luz wasn’t about to fetch it for him.

  A faintly puzzled frown creased his forehead at her crisp response, but he said nothing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him walk toward the kitchen. With the placement of a lampstand, the living room was put back in order. A vacuum cleaner hummed in the dining room. To Luz’s inspecting eye, there appeared little left for the catering staff to do, except finish loading their equipment into the van.

  “I managed to save the last of the coffee before they poured it down the drain.” Drew returned, carrying a cup and saucer in each hand. “I brought you a cup.”

  “I don’t care for any.” She crossed to the French doors and closed them, checking to make sure they were securely latched.

  “Emma said to tell you the kitchen has been cleaned.”

  “Good.” Her head was throbbing with tension. She didn’t think she could take another minute of this without screaming. “In that case, you can stay down here and lock up after the caterers leave. I’m tired. I’m going upstairs.”

  She left him standing in the middle of the room, staring after her. When she reached her dressing room, she stripped off the two-piece lounger. For once she didn’t take the trouble to hang up her clothes but left the crushable pleated outfit in a pile on the floor, adding her black stockings and flesh-colored lingerie to the heap. Her necklace and earrings she dropped on the vanity table. She pulled a narrow-strapped nightgown of green silk over her head and paused long enough in front of the lighted mirror to pull the pins out of her hair, but she didn’t bother to remove her makeup. The agitation that pulsed within her was too strong.

  Before leaving the dressing room, Luz grabbed her hairbrush. She ran it through her hair as she walked into the bedroom to sit on the edge of the satin-quilted bed. With hard, brisk strokes, she raked the bristles through her hair until her scalp tingled with pain, as if she needed the physical discomfort to alleviate her inner torment.

  She could hear the distant murmur of voices coming from downstairs. A door closed. Then she was able to distinguish Drew’s voice when he wished Emma a good night. She held the hairbrush in her lap until she sensed Drew’s presence in the sitting room. Her door stood open, and she knew he could see her sitting there.

  “Everything’s all locked up.” He leaned a shoulder against the doorframe, bending one leg.

  “Good.” Luz continued brushing her hair.

  He stirred, entering her room. It took all her control not to throw the brush at him. “It was an excellent party. You outdid yourself, as usual.”

  “I’m surprised you noticed.” She tried to suppress the cattiness in her voice, but didn’t succeed.

  “What does that mean?” A confused laugh broke from him.

  Unable to sit still, Luz stood up and paced restlessly away from the bed. “How can you ask?” The anger simmered just below the surface.

  “Because I want to know what you’re talking about.”

  “How can you stand there and say that after the way you behaved all evening?” She turned on him.

  “What did I do?” He lifted his hands in a gesture of confusion.

  She didn’t want to put it into words, but she couldn’t stand his innocent attitude. “You didn’t take your eyes off that Baines woman all evening.”

  “What?” Drew laughed with incredulous amusement.

  “Everyone noticed. It was so humiliating to have people watch me and whisper behind their hands, wondering whether I saw what was going on. You monopolized her the whole time and ignored all the rest of our guests.”

  “Luz, that simply isn’t true. Yes, I was with her. What did you expect me to do? She didn’t know a soul at the party. I couldn’t very well let her stand around by herself. As the host, I felt it was my duty to take her around and meet the other guests, so I did circulate. As a matter of fact, I think we talked to everyone there.”

  “Your duty,” she said icily. “And what arduous duty it was, I suppose. I’m sure you had to force yourself to laugh and smile all that time.”

  “I’m not going to deny that I enjoyed being with her.” There was a slow, patient shake of his head, his smile warm and indulgent. His calmness only increased her frustration and anger. “She made me feel young.”

  “Then what do I make you feel? Old?” Luz stalked back to the bed and sat down again.

  “Of course not. I was only trying to say that she was fun to be with.”

  “And was it fun kissing her good night?” She dragged the brush through her hair once, then clutched it between her hands to stare at the bristles.

  “I don’t believe this,” Drew murmured. “Luz, I kissed practically every woman goodbye when she left.” She bit at the inside of her lip, realizing that was true. He walked over to the bed and sat down beside her, bending his head to peer at her face. “I believe you’re jealous.”

  “Wouldn’t you be? Everyone was making sly remarks.” She flashed him an accusing look. It had all been bottled up inside too long for her to get over the hurt so quickly—imaginary or not.

  “I regret that. I’m sorry.” He gazed at her with contrite affection, yet it was his handsome looks Luz saw—that artful silvering at the temples and the deep cleft in his chin.

  Again, the brush absorbed her attention. “Maybe you’ve had other women since we’ve been married. I don’t know. Infidelity seems to be a male characteristic. But don’t ever flaunt an affair in front of me, Drew. I won’t stand for it.” She felt she had to say that so that there would be no doubt in his mind.

  His hand cupped the side of her jaw, the pressure of his thumb lifting her chin to force her to look at him. “How could there be another woman? After all this time, don’t you know how much I love you?”

  She softened under his intent regard, the corners of her mouth deepening in a whisper of a smile. “It might take some convincing.”

  He leaned toward her and covered her lips in a kiss that grew steadily stronger. Luz relaxed against him, tilting her head farther back to invite more ardent pressure. He obliged for several satisfying seconds before slowly ending the kiss. She opened her eye
s to see his heavy-lidded glance follow the trail of his hand as it slid down her neck to finger the string straps of her gown.

  “It’s been a long time since I undressed you,” he murmured, and he gently pushed the strap on one side, then the other, off her shoulder.

  A tremor of excitement quivered through her. It deepened into a wonderful shudder when his hand slipped underneath the lace bodice, cupping her right breast in his palm. Her nipple hardened to a nub in its center. The invasion of his hand forced the material downward, and Luz pressed her arms close to her side to let the straps fall the rest of the way, then slipped free of them.

  With the gown loose about her waist, Drew hooked an arm behind her to lift her back until she was lying crosswise on the king-sized bed. The action pulled the gown lower until it was resting on her hips. After that, a single movement of his hand drew it away from her body, the satin gown gliding over the satin quilt to land on the floor.

  Drew stepped back to admire her naked figure, lingering over her high, rounded breasts, and her parted legs, while he unbuttoned his shirt and stripped off his clothes. His slow study of her body made Luz feel hot all over, and aroused. When he moved onto the bed to lie beside her, his muscled body so trim and tan, she watched him in anticipation. His hand stroked her, traveling over the tips of her breasts to the pale, curling hairs on her pubic bone.

  “You’re beautiful.” He nuzzled her lips as she reached to hold him and feel his warm flesh.

  With his hands, his lips, and his body, he worshiped her. It was a wild and heady sensation that made her body hum with need. This intensity of passion was almost a forgotten thing. Yet there was no haste about it. They spent time savoring and enjoying the delight they found in each other. When the coupling came, it was a sweet and fiery culmination that left them both happily drained.

  Afterward, Luz lay stretched at full length on the bed, smiling in blissful contentment, the thin sheet drawn across her breasts and an arm flung above her head on the pillow. Drew was beside her, his head cradled on his own pillow. She knew he wasn’t sleeping; he was just lying there, as she was, still warmed by the glow of their lovemaking. She turned her head to look at him, staring at the ceiling, his expression lazy and pleased.

  “That was wonderful,” she murmured, but it had been more than that. Leaning over, using her elbow for a pivot, Luz kissed the curved point of his shoulder. “It was the best sex we’ve had since our honeymoon.”

  He quirked an eyebrow. ‘That isn’t saying much for all the years in between.”

  She laughed. “That isn’t what I meant.”

  His arm circled her waist and pulled her across his body to lie on his other side. “Then you’d better explain yourself, woman,” he ordered with mock menace.

  This playing reinforced her feelings. “It all seems so new and exciting. It was like—discovering each other all over again.” She could feel the light of reborn love inside her, glowing brightly. Her fingers threaded into his chest hairs as she snuggled closer to him. “I guess I feel like a bride.”

  “You’ll always be my bride.” He pressed a warm kiss on top of her head, now pillowed on his shoulder.

  “What time do you think it is?” she wondered.

  “Don’t ask.” His chest lifted with a warning chuckle that vibrated into her. “It was going on three when I came upstairs.”

  Luz craned her head around so that she could see the digital clock on her nightstand. “It’s almost four.” Drew groaned. “Let’s stay up and watch the sunrise.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, I am.” She playfully pulled at the hairs on his chest. “I’ll go make some fresh coffee and we can drink it outside on the deck.”

  “Luz, I don’t think the sun comes up until sometime after six. Do you know how tired we’re going to be?”

  “Are you tired?” She sat up, looking back at him.

  “Not right now,” Drew conceded.

  “Then get out of bed, lazybones.” She pushed him toward the side. “Let’s go.” He caught at her hands, and they wrestled for a few minutes in fun until Luz escaped his clutches and scampered out of bed. Drew immediately settled back against the pillows, folding his hands under his head to watch her slip on the red kimono. “You’d better be out of there when I come back upstairs with the tray,” she warned. “Or you’re going to find yourself having coffee and orange juice in bed—and I don’t mean in a cup.” He smiled, unconcerned.

  But when she returned with the tray laden with coffee, orange juice, and a basket of Danish rolls, the bed was empty. The French doors to their private balcony were ajar, and Luz found him outside, his hair damp from a shower and his face freshly shaven.

  “Rolls.” He spied them first. “How did you know I was hungry?”

  “You always are after you exercise.” She set the breakfast tray on the glass-topped wrought-iron table and tried to remember the last time she had engaged in such wordplay, infusing ordinary words with intimate meanings. Romance seemed to have reentered their marriage. The night air touched her. “It’s cool.” She shivered slightly as she poured their orange juice and coffee.

  “Come here.” When she brought the coffee, Drew wrapped an arm around her and cuddled her to the warmth of his body. It made drinking awkward, but the compensations more than made up for it.

  An hour later, they lay crowded together, sharing the lounge chair. A double-knitted afghan was bunched high around their necks to keep out the predawn chill. The pearly horizon showed its first shadings of pink in the east.

  “Are you awake?” Luz stirred, glancing upward to see if his eyes were still open.

  “Mmm.” She supposed that answer was affirmative.

  “Before he left, Rob asked me to talk to you about something.” Luz doubted if she’d find Drew in a more responsive mood.

  “What?” It was a drowsily worded question.

  “It’s about college. He wants to wait a year.”

  “What? Why?” He was fully awake.

  “He says he wants to concentrate on improving his polo game, but I don’t think that’s the whole reason.”

  “And what do you think is?”

  Luz shifted onto her side to watch his face while she argued Rob’s cause. With the tip of her finger, she traced the deep pit in his chin. “You know what a tough time Rob has with school. He’s had to study hard the last four years to keep his grades high enough to meet college requirements. I think he just wants a break from the pressure.”

  “I don’t like the idea at all.”

  “I didn’t think you would.”

  “And you approve, I suppose.”

  “I understand.” Luz emphasized the difference, tapping him lightly on the lips. “What he’s asking isn’t so unusual. There are any number who sit out a year on the pretext of touring Europe or some such thing.”

  “That’s true.”

  “So? What should I tell Rob?” She ran her finger around the corner of his mouth.

  “You don’t want to insist that he start college this fall, do you?” Drew held her gaze.

  “No.”

  “I can hardly argue against both of you, can I?” He smiled wryly.

  “Drew.” His easy capitulation after so little argument stunned her. She tunneled her fingers into the hair at the back of his neck and pulled his head down so she could kiss him. It turned into a long one, with a breath of the magic they’d shared in the bedroom. “I love you.” She sighed when it was over.

  “Guess what?”

  “What?” Luz smiled, expecting him to return the phrase.

  “You’re missing your sunrise.”

  She turned to see the golden arc of light crowning the horizon. It was the birth of a new day—a new love, a new rapport. This is what they’d done on their honeymoon night, stayed up to watch the sunrise, a symbolic way to start their new life together. Luz wondered if Drew remembered. She hugged his arms more tightly around her middle and settled back to watch the sun climb into the s
ky.

  CHAPTER V

  Sunlight glistened on the smooth surface of the swimming pool; the pool’s blue bottom matched the sky. Luz adjusted the brace on the chaise longue to a more comfortable angle, then leaned back against the colorful plastic webbing. A wide-brimmed white hat protected her hair from the sun, but the strapless multicolored swimsuit exposed much of her oiled flesh to its tanning rays. Mary reclined in the chair flanking hers, close enough so talking wouldn’t be an effort while they concentrated on soaking up the sun.

  “I can’t believe how angry I was that night.” Luz had her eyes closed behind the dark sunglasses and she talked without turning her head. “I hated Claudia so much I could have cheerfully clawed her eyes out.”

  “I believe that.”

  “I had no reason. I felt so foolish afterward. I never should have doubted Drew, but I’m glad I did.”

  “That’s a strange thing to say,” Mary declared.

  “Not really. If I hadn’t told him all my nasty suspicions, none of the rest of this would have happened. These last two weeks have been like a honeymoon.” She smiled. “Honestly, I think I’m falling in love with Drew all over again. After twenty years, a lot of the spark was gone. We’d taken each other for granted too long, dwelt more on the failings and faults, let the little things irritate us.”

  “I know what you mean. It drives me crazy to listen to Ross’s jaw pop when he chews. And Lord knows, he does a lot of eating.”

  “I’ve noticed.”

  “So what about Claudia? Is she still around?”

  “Of course. Drew still talks about her frequently, but it doesn’t bother me anymore.” When Luz attempted to shrug her shoulders, her skin stuck to the plastic webbing. “I’m starting to perspire. Maybe it’s time we moved to the shade.”

  “Not yet.” There was a pause before Mary added, “I’m glad you and Drew are spending more time together. For a while there, you hardly saw him at all.”

  “I still don’t see that much of him. Things haven’t slowed down any at the office.”

  “And you call it a honeymoon?”