by Doreen Alsen
“I’d like to head upstairs with you,” she whispered barely above the beat of her heart.
He swung her up into his arms, just like Rhett Butler. She nearly swooned as he carried her upstairs.
Really, who needed spicy gumbo to get hot?
Not Angelique.
All she needed was Tim.
Chapter-Twenty-Seven
Tim laid Angelique on her bed as if she was made of spun sugar, all gossamer and fragile and precious. He hadn’t come over here in order to make love to her.
Okay. Who was he kidding? He’d come over with sex on his mind but had wanted to woo her properly.
Then she called 911 and all he wanted to do was eat her all up with a spoon.
Or, wait a minute. Who needed a spoon? Not this guy.
He knew all kinds of other ways to eat her all up.
Tim toed his Topsiders off and lay on the bed next to her, on his side so he could see her amazing eyes.
He found her staring at him, her eyes huge and dark. They lit a fire deep inside of him, but instead of a huge blast of heat, this one smoldered low, waiting to be fanned into an all-consuming bonfire.
Wanting to wait a bit before he unleashed the bonfire, he made sure his hands were gentle as he reached over to smooth over her body.
She gasped the minute he touched her. He kept his touch feather light, like a whisper of a prayer as he reverently explored her. He kissed every inch of her silky soft skin.
“Tim,” she moaned, “what are you doing to me?”
He bent his head and nipped at her generous lower lip. “Ssshhhh. Close those pretty eyes and just let me love you.”
She sighed and invited his touch. He slowly slipped off her clothes, one piece at a time. He kissed every inch of flesh he bared.
He took his time until she was panting and writhing underneath him, then slow didn’t work anymore. He left the bed just long enough to tear off his own clothes and drag on a condom.
He knelt on the bed and dragged her ankles to sit upon his shoulders. With very little finesse, he plunged into her.
They both groaned as he made them one. She let her eyelids flutter shut. “No, dammit. Look at me. You just look at me.”
She opened her eyes and stared wildly at him as he began to move in and out of her. Jesus, she was tight around him and hot, so hot. He tried to keep his body under control, but the fever to come drove him to keep on thrusting forward and back. Because he wanted her to orgasm with him, he reached down to where their bodies were joined and rubbed the little bud of her slippery clitoris and stroked it, circled it.
She flew apart on a scream, her inner muscles squeezing him relentlessly, bringing forth his own climax. The rush was pure heat and a scalding release.
He flopped over her, resting his weight on his elbows, which were at either side of her head. She trembled beneath him, her chest rising and falling in short, sharp bursts.
“What was that?” Angelique dropped her head back against her pillow.
“If you don’t know, then I did it all wrong.” He shook his head as he rolled off her to lay sideways next to her.
“Fishing for compliments?” Her smile held all sorts of promises and mysteries.
“Maybe.” He reached out and cupped one perfect breast in his hand.
She laughed. “Okay, then. You were magnificent.”
“And don’t you forget it.” He dipped his head to kiss her.
“I won’t.” She changed her position and pressed her backside to his groin so they spooned.
He wrapped his arms around her snugging her even more closely to him. He smiled, closed his eyes, and fell into the deepest sleep he’d had in a long time.
****
Angelique lay pressed against Tim, wide-awake and listening to him breathe. He was such a puzzle to her, one moment loving and gentle, another moment as turbulent as a summer storm, still another moment distant and closed off.
And it could all change in the snap of a finger. What had she gotten herself into?
She already felt far more for him than was wise. He was such a tortured, wounded soul and all she’d ever done was break and twist a man into what she wanted.
She simply couldn’t do that to Tim.
But what could he do to her? The old love ’em and leave ’em Angelique Durand was gone and here was Angie left in her place. For the first time in forever, her heart was on the line.
She didn’t like it. Not one little bit.
She closed her eyes and willed herself to relax the muscles in her body, to feel them melting into the mattress.
He murmured something she couldn’t make out and banded his arms around her. She sighed and settled back against him.
How could something so wrong feel so good?
Answer? It couldn’t. Being with Tim felt all kinds of right.
When next her eyes fluttered open, she noticed the sun streaming through the windows. She looked over to the pillow where Tim had laid his head, laid, as in past tense.
Angelique sat up and listened for any evidence that he was anywhere in her house. She got out of bed and threw on her robe, but she knew he was gone.
She should have known he’d leave, probably because of Chester, but she wished with all her heart that he’d woken her up before he left.
She refused to pout, as she knew it would do no damn good.
What should her next step be? She had absolutely no clue.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“I heard you had a heart attack,” Jeff said as he slipped into a booth in Maggie’s Diner.
Tim swore. “I guess word gets around.”
Jeff grinned. “That it does.”
“Just shut it, okay?”
“Sure. I don’t want to get your blood pressure up with you having a heart condition and all.”
“I may have to shoot you in the face yet.” Tim cracked open a menu, but he barely read it.
Sally sauntered over to their table. “Hello, gentlemen. Can I get you guys a drink before you order?”
“Moxie, please,” Jeff said.
“I’ll have a coffee, please.” Tim looked up and gave Sally a small, polite smile.
“I’ll make yours decaf, Tim. Don’t want all that caffeine to make your heart race, what with that heart attack and all.”
Tim gritted his teeth. “I didn’t have a heart attack, so regular coffee will do me just fine.”
Sally winked at Jeff. “Okay, a coffee and Moxie coming right up.”
Tim grunted then looked up to see Jeff grinning at him. “What?”
“What nothing. It’s just that it’s rare for a guy your age to have heart problems.”
“You’re gonna have heart problems if you keep this up.” Tim muttered
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. You’ve got to admit it’s pretty funny.”
“I’ll admit no such thing.” His brow furrowed. “And nobody should give Angeli…uh, Angie a hard time about it, or I’ll rip their guts out.”
“Getting a little serious, my man?”
“No!” Tim yelled then grimaced. “Maybe.”
“That’s great, bro! She’s a nice lady and it’s obvious by the scar that she’s gone through some bad stuff.”
Tim immersed himself in reading the menu again. “What’re you going to have?”
“My usual, the Lobster Burger.” Jeff rubbed his hands together. “I hope they have tomalley.”
Ugh. Tim had never gotten the big deal about tomalley. As far as he was concerned, tomalley was green, gloppy lobster liver. “I’m leaning in that direction, only without the green stuff.”
Sally came back to the table with a bottle of Moxie, a frosted mug, a coffee, some creamers in a ramekin, and two napkins wrapped around place settings. She set all that down on their table. “Here’s your drinks. Do you know what you want?”
“I’ll have the Lobster Burger with tomalley if you have it.” Jeff nodded.
“And for you, Tim?”
“I’ll have
the Lobster Burger, too, only without the green stuff.”
“Are you sure you want a Lobster Burger? They’re pretty spicy.”
“Yes, Sally. I’m sure.” Tim’s temper started to stir.
“All righty then. You’re the boss.” She looked like she was holding back a laugh. “I’ll get these orders right up in the kitchen.”
She left.
There was a God. Maybe.
“So, tell me what happened and don’t leave anything out.” Jeff grinned as he poured the Moxie from the bottle into the glass Sally left.
“Not much to tell. She cooked some gumbo, wanted me to try it. It was a little bit spicier than I expected. I might have wheezed a little bit.” Tim glared at Jeff, daring him to smile. “She over-reacted, thought I was having a heart attack, or something, and called 911. I just had a reaction to the gumbo. That’s all.”
“Must have been some wicked hot gumbo.”
“It was. Then she really felt bad and I had to comfort her.”
“Of course she needed your kind of ‘comfort.’” Jeff shook his head.
Tim felt a smile grow across his face. “She did indeed.”
“Trust you to land on your feet.” Jeff took a careful sip of his Moxie.
Tim stirred sugar into his coffee and frowned. “It wasn’t like that. I shouldn’t have said anything. She just felt really bad. I like her, Jeff. I like her a lot, but she’s not part of the plan. I came here to heal, not start a new relationship. I don’t want any of my mess to touch her.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Jeff sat back in his seat. “When I first found out about Danny, I never thought it would end this way—Danny, Beth, Cookie, and me being a family. There was a lot of stuff for us to wade through, but we got through it.”
“This isn’t the same thing. You and Beth had a history. Me, I’ve got enough shit to carry. I won’t subject her to it.” Tim lifted his coffee cup.
“From where I’m sitting, it’s clear that you can’t stay away from her. You either go for it or let her go.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Letting her go was the right thing to do. He just couldn’t do it.
Sally sidled up their table. “Two Lobster Burgers right here.” She put one in front of Jeff, the other in front of Tim. “Enjoy! Oh, and Tim, you’ve got nothing to worry about. We have a defibrillator back in the kitchen, so let us know if you start having palpitations.”
“Sure thing, Sally.” Jeff laughed.
“It’s not that funny,” Tim grumbled.
Jeff unwrapped his silverware. “Whatever.” He took a bite of his Lobster Burger. “Have you thought about joining the town softball team? Julia’s been nagging me to ask you.”
“Sure. It’ll be fun.” Tim scowled. “As long as everybody lays off the heart attack jokes.”
“Absolutely. We’ll all be as serious as, well, as heart attacks.”
“Do I have to beat you up to stop the jokes? Because I’m so up for it right now.”
“All right, I’ll stop. No more jokes.” Jeff took another big bite of his sandwich.
Somehow, Tim just didn’t trust Jeff at all, regarding the jokes. He might as well get used to it.
The next couple of days were going to be long ones.
****
“I don’t know much about softball,” Angelique told Beth as the two of them made their way up the bleachers aside the softball field.
“There’s not that much to know.” Beth sat on the hard metal bench. “The pitcher throws the ball, the batter takes a whack at it, and everyone runs either after the ball or across the bases.” She shrugged. “I wasn’t much for sports back in the day.”
Angelique sat next to her. The bench was already hot from the sun. “Me either.” That was an understatement. The closest she’d gotten to sports had been sleeping with Brock Nelson, and look what good had come from that.
Nothing good. Just a sex tape. How stupid she’d been.
And how common. Ordinary. Trivial.
She so regretted that.
Beth’s son Danny scrambled up the bleachers, his face smeared with chocolate ice cream and a huge ketchup and mustard splotch on his T-shirt. There was a mystery stain that Angelique didn’t want to speculate about.
Beth sighed and pulled a container of wipes out of her purse. She handed a bunch of them to Danny. “Did you eat any of that food or are you just wearing it all?”
The kid rolled his eyes and swabbed at his mouth with the wet wipes, missing most of the chocolate. “Can I go to the football field with Ben?”
“You don’t want to watch your father play softball?”
Danny grimaced. “Softball’s boring.”
“Too bad. You’re staying here.” Beth took the wet towelettes and cleaned Danny’s face as best she could. The kid was a wiggly mess.
Angelique watched Beth and Danny and for the first time ever she wondered what kind of mother she would be.
The question took her a little aback. The words “Angelique” and “children” had never been uttered together, even when she’d been a child. Her father had treated her like she was a really short adult.
She always thought she hated kids. They were messy, loud, germ factories. Never mind the havoc having babies would inflict on her body.
No. Nowhere in her wildest imagination had she seen herself as a mother.
“Hey! Dad!” Danny stood on a bleacher and windmilled his arms over his head to get Jeff’s attention.
Jeff turned, looked up, and grinned as he waved back to his son. Angelique could feel the love and joy between the two.
It was, perhaps, the most touching thing she had ever seen. An arrow, it’s aim true, split her heart so all these strange longings, feelings she never felt before, spilled out of her. She placed her hand over her stomach as she imagined carrying a life within her. Rubbing her midsection, she could almost feel a child kick against her hands.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she glanced down at the field to see Tim staring at her. Or at least she thought he was, as he was wearing sunglasses and she really couldn’t tell for sure. Her breath hitched and her skin actually burned underneath his scrutiny. She put her hand over her mouth, helpless to look away from him.
A shout from the Lobster Cove bench had both Tim and Jeff looking away. Jeff gave Beth and Danny one last wave. Tim barely nodded before the two of them jogged off to join the team.
“Ahem.”
Angelique turned to see Beth watching her. “What?”
“That was some slow burn between you and Tim.”
“How could you tell?”
Beth smiled. “Body language. Tells me all I need to know about burns, slow and otherwise.”
Angelique sighed. “I guess it was.”
“Tim’s a great guy, you know. Jeff thinks he might have real feelings for you.”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m afraid to know. So far we’ve only been about sex.”
“I’ve known him ever since high school. You know that. He was a spoiled little rich boy back then.” Beth smiled. “That spoiled little rich boy has grown up to be a remarkable man. If you can’t return his feelings, after what he’s been through, please don’t break his heart. I don’t think he could handle it.”
“Nobody’s said anything about love yet.” And, hey! I’ve got my own issues! “I don’t know how I feel and I don’t think he knows how he feels.”
“But, don’t you think you can take a chance on him?” Beth’s forehead wrinkled. She looked well and truly baffled.
“I’m a mess, Beth. I don’t have anything in me worth sharing. Nothing worth counting on.” She didn’t confess that the only thing she had to give was her body.
And sex with Tim would only go so far.
“I think you’re wrong, but I don’t want to pry.” Beth looked out over the field, shielding her eyes with her left hand. “If you want to tell me, you’ll tell me. But from a person who kept a huge secret for ten whole years, don’t l
et it paralyze you.” She jumped up as Jeff hit the ball with a resounding crack and ran for first base. “Go, baby, go!” she screamed through a megaphone she made with her two hands around her mouth.
Angelique stood with the rest of the Lobster Cove fans. The excitement of the crowd carried her up to her feet.
Beth had given her a lot to think about. If she examined her conduct so far, she’d see, most likely, that her running hot and cold for Tim turned her into a tease.
Again.
She couldn’t do that anymore. She couldn’t be that person.
So, she’d follow her heart and decide how much she could give Tim and do just that.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“So for my Fourth of July party, can I impose on you to make gumbo?” Tim slapped a long-handled stainless steel spatula into his left hand.
Angelique snorted. “Only if you’re man enough to eat it, cher.”
He grinned. “I’m not going to eat it. Jeff is going to eat it.” He couldn’t stop enjoying the vision of Jeff all red faced and gasping for air. “Matter of fact, Jeff really loves spicy food, so maybe you could add a little bit more of the hot stuff.”
He bet Jeff wouldn’t be laughing so hard at him then. It’d be sweet to bring him down a peg or two.
He wished he could take a picture of it.
“I’m sure gumbo isn’t part of the Fourth of July festivities up here in Maine. I’ve been thinking it’s all lobster, all the time.” She pursed her lips.
He trembled with the urge to plant a kiss on that come-kiss-me-you-know-you-wanna mouth. “Maybe you can make us change that.”
“I think not.” She pulled up one strap on her sundress, which kept falling off her shoulder. “I think the best I could do would be to get them to make lobster gumbo.”
The morning light gilded her and surrounded her in soft, golden sunbeams. The mild breeze flirted with her glossy dark hair and spread the silken strands around her face and shoulders. She wore an old-fashioned style dress, with tiny straps and a full skirt. In honor of the day, the dress was blue and spread with red and white stars.