He laughed. “Oh, Nicole. I don’t think I’m falling in love with you anymore.”
“What?” She sat up and looked down at him.
The lightning streaked across the sky sending a flash of light into the room. It illuminated her beautiful features.
“What I want to say is I’m no longer falling in love with you because I’ve already fallen.”
She smiled. “Really?” Happy tears, which he couldn’t see, filled her eyes.
“Yes, really.” He pulled her down on him and his mouth found hers.
Their passion was soon keeping pace with the raging storm outside.
Chapter 25
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me Connor had gone to Savannah?” Elsie stared at Paul.
“I didn’t think you had any reason to know.”
“Well, I do have a reason. Now, I want you to tell me where he’s staying.”
Paul told her the truth. “I don’t know. He didn’t tell me.”
“You’re lying.”
“Elsie, I’m not lying. I won’t know where he stayed until I get his expense report and he names the hotel.”
“So, the company sets him up for his rendezvous with his secretary?” she taunted.
“Nicole went with him to help out. I told you this was a very big deal for our company. He needed her with him.”
“Yeah, right. And I suppose she’ll have an expense account with a separate hotel room listed on it?”
Paul ignored her and picked up a file on his desk. “If that was all you wanted to ask, Elsie, I need to get busy.”
“Paul, you bastard! You exasperate me. I want to know where he’s staying so I can go down there and break up this little love nest. He needs a classier woman than your secretary, for heaven’s sake. I bet she doesn’t even belong to the country club.” She snarled at him. “Do you think your snooty wife will ever invite her over for dinner?”
“Elsie, I’m getting tired of your foolishness. Go on to Savannah if you want to. I don’t give a damn what you do. Call every hotel in town when you get there and see if you can find them. But, if I was a betting man, I’d say they checked out this morning and are headed home. They finished the business there yesterday.” He had raised his voice.
“You go to hell, Paul Cottingham!”
Martin poked his head in his son’s office. “What’s going on?”
“This crazy stupid sister-in-law of mine is harassing me about Connor.”
Elsie turned on her charm. “Mr. Cottingham, Connor’s in Savannah with Nicole. Don’t you think he should be sleeping with a more appropriate woman than your secretary?”
He looked at Paul. “Is he sleeping with Nicole?”
Paul shrugged. “He didn’t say.”
Martin smiled. “Well, hot damn, I hope he is. He sure needs to get him a woman and he couldn’t find a better one than Nicole. She’s pretty and she’s smart. I like that girl. She’s just what he needs.”
“You don’t mean that, Mr. Cottingham. She’s not at all suited for Connor. He needs a woman like me.”
Martin said, “Why in the world would he want you? You’ve already been through three husbands and God only knows how many other men. Knowing Connor he’d consider you no more than one step up from a street prostitute.”
Elsie screamed, “I hate all you Cottinghams. You’re the most crude and uncouth men I’ve ever met and that includes Connor.” She grabbed her purse off the chair in front of Paul’s desk. “As for Nicole, I’ll see to it she pays for what she’s done to me. I’ll see to it she and Connor never get together.”
Before either man could speak, Elsie ran out of the office.
* * * *
“Nicole, get out of that water. It’s cold. Don’t you know that?” Connor laughed as he watched her play and run along the surf.
“I know, but it feels wonderful with the cold water and the sand running between my toes. Come on in and wade with me.”
“I’ll do a lot of things for you, baby, but wading in the surf at Tybee Island in October is not one of them.” He snapped a picture of her with the all-in-one camera they bought at the gift shop.
She ran toward him with her sandals in her hand. Her smile beamed as her hair blew around her face in the breeze. She looked so charming, he couldn’t resist taking more pictures.
“You don’t know what you missed,” she said flinging her arms around his neck. “It was fun.”
He kissed her, turned her toward the lighthouse and put his arm around her waist. “I missed getting my feet and my pants wet. And I probably missed taking a bad cold because I wasn’t foolish enough to wade in the cold ocean water this time of year.”
She bopped him playfully on the shoulder. “What do you want to do now? Want to climb the lighthouse?”
He faked a moan. “Do we have to?”
“Oh, come on, tough guy. You can do it. We need to work off some of those meals we’ve had since we’ve been in Savannah. We’ve probably gained over ten pounds already.” She held his arm and leaned down to slip on her sandals.
“Speak for yourself, Girlie. I’m about ready to eat again.” He smiled down at her. “We haven’t had lunch you know.”
“Okay. Let’s climb to the top and I promise we’ll go eat lunch after we get back down. By then I may be hungry and I won’t complain about you wanting to eat.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “You can talk me into anything.”
“Oh, boy, that’s good to know. I’ll see what I want us to do next.” She cocked her head to one side. “Europe, maybe?”
“You’re never going to let me forget I said that, are you?”
“No, way. If I keep reminding you, it just might happen.”
“Well, right now it looks like climbing the lighthouse is what’s going to happen. Just remember one thing. If I pass out from hunger up there, you’re going to have a hell of a time carrying me back down.”
She reached up and touched his chin. “You remember one thing. If there’s any carrying being done, I’m the one who gets carried.”
A voice broke into their conversation. “I see you two are having fun.” They turned and saw a tall thin gray-haired woman.
“Yes, ma’am, we are.” Connor said.
“It makes me feel good when I see such a happy couple. My Jim and I used to be happy like that, then a heart attack took him away from me.”
“I’m sorry,” Nicole said.
“Just enjoy each other while you can. Life is awfully short.” She smiled. “I see you have a camera. Would you like for me to take a picture of the two of you together?”
“Yes. We’d love to have some of us together.” He handed the woman the camera.
She took some shots of them and handed it back. “Now, you two enjoy the rest of your day.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
They watched her walk away toward the museum.
“Nice lady,” Nicole said and took Connor’s hand. “Okay, are you ready?”
“I guess I am, if you insist we do this.”
“I do insist. Come on, honey. There are only one hundred and seventy eight steps.”
He squeezed her hand. “Since you called me honey, I’ll do it. It’s the first time you know.”
“First time to climb the steps, or what?”
“You know what I mean. It’s the first time you called me honey.”
She smiled at him. “I might do it again if you’ll come on.”
They had gone up about ten steps when he stopped. “If you’ll call me darling, I won’t complain another time on this climb.”
She was one step in front of him. She stopped, turned, and looked at him. They were now almost eye to eye. “Okay, Connor, my darling.” She couldn’t help adding. “I love you.”
“Now, that’s worth climbing for.” He leaned up and kissed her.
Seeing some other people coming behind them she turned quickly and said, “Okay. Now see if you can catch me.” She started running up the s
teps.
“Don’t you dare make me run,” he called after her. “You wait for me.”
After running up a flight of steps she did stop and wait. They climbed the rest of the lighthouse together.
Nicole took a big breath. “Now I need to rest.”
“Not as tough as you thought you were, huh?”
“I’m tough alright, but I did run some. You didn’t,” she teased.
“Here.” He handed her a brochure. “Learn about this place now that we’re here.”
“Okay.” She took it and began to read. “There are one hundred and seventy-eight stairs. Of course, we knew that already.”
“I think there were a thousand.”
She made a face at him and looked at the brochure. “I’ll summarize. This is the fourth Tybee Lighthouse. The first one was the tallest structure of its kind in America at that time, but it was built too close to the shore. Its foundations rotted and a storm swept it out to sea.”
“You sound like a history teacher.” He stood behind her with his arms round her waist.
“Pretend I am and you might learn something.” She grinned and continued, “The second lighthouse was the first one to have a full time pilot to assist vessels coming into the river.”
“What about number three and number four?” He whispered in her ear.
“I’m getting to that.” She patted the hand he had around her waist. “It’s great to have such an eager student. The third one was built further from the sea. It was a one-hundred foot tall brick and wood structure and was lit with candles made from the waxy white substance from a sperm whale’s skull.” She shuddered. “Poor old whale.”
“Just can’t hide your tender heart, can you?” He squeezed her against him.
“Would you rather I be hard-hearted?”
“I like you just the way you are.” He kissed the back of her neck.
“Thank you.” She reached up over her shoulder and touched his cheek. She didn’t want him to know how his manhood pressing against her buttocks turned her on. She said, “Now, back to our lesson. In 1862, most of this lighthouse was destroyed when Confederate troops set fire to it in order to prevent the Federal troops from using it to guide their ships into port.”
“Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.”
She ignored him. “When the Civil War was over, they began rebuilding. The bottom sixty feet of the old lighthouse was still okay and they decided to add to it instead of starting over. The new lighthouse was made of masonry and metal and was completely fireproof. This is the lighthouse we’re standing on today.”
“That’s interesting.”
“That’s not all. Keep listening. In 1933, the light was converted to electricity and by some sort of magnification, which I’m not going to go into, a one thousand watt bulb can be seen from eighteen miles away. When they changed to electricity, they no longer needed a Lighthouse Keeper. When the last keeper died, the U.S. Coast Guard took over the operation. The Tybee Island Historical Society takes care of the place now, but the U.S. Coast Guard still maintains the light as a navigational aid.” She leaned her head against his chest. “I think that gives you a pretty good idea of the place. You can read the whole thing later.”
“You did a good job, my dear.”
“Did I do as well as you did telling me the history of the Olde Pink House?”
“You did better.”
“You know how to charm a woman, don’t you?”
“I don’t care about other women. I’m only trying to charm you.”
“You’re doing a good job of it.” She pressed her back against him. “Look at that view. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Almost as beautiful as the woman I have in my arms.”
They enjoyed the view for a while longer then decided to go down and look through the museum. As they were leaving, Connor raised an eyebrow at her. “I saw this place called Stingrays. I’d like to try it for a late lunch if you don’t mind.”
“That sounds good to me.”
It was a good choice. They were both hungry so they decided to try Stingrays signature crab stew as an appetizer. As their main courses, Connor had Lucile’s fish Po’ Boy extra-large and Nicole had the crab cake sandwich. She was too full for dessert, but Connor said he had to try the key lime pie. Of course she took a bite.
After lunch they visited some art galleries. In one, Nicole picked out a stained glass sun catcher as a gift for Lita. They then drove the eighteen miles back to Savannah.
It had been a busy day and they were both tired. They spent a while in the Jacuzzi and then dressed to go for a carriage ride through the historical district. Cuddled in his arms behind the driver, Nicole said. “I feel like Cinderella. When it gets close to midnight, all this fantasy will have to come to an end.”
“Maybe being in Savannah is ending, but I hope you don’t plan for us to come to an end.”
“Then my fantasy isn’t ending after all, because you’re my handsome prince. As long as I can have you, I don’t care where we are. Macon will be just fine.”
He pulled her tight to him. “You can be my Cinderella, my Sleeping Beauty, my Snow White, my whatever, just as long as you stay my Nicole.”
“I’ll be your Nicole as long as you want me to be.”
“Then it looks as if this fairy tale will end as they all do. And they lived happily ever after.”
She didn’t answer. She turned her face up to him and he held her tighter as he kissed her passionately.
Chapter 26
“Well, Janice, what do you think?”
“I think you’re right. She needs to be taught a lesson. I don’t think she had the right to come in and make a play for the man you wanted.”
“That’s what I thought. I did find out that they’re definitely coming home tomorrow.”
“I’ll talk to Cliff and see what he thinks. He said he knew her in Atlanta. Maybe he has an idea of what you could do to get her out of Connor’s life.”
“Thanks, Janice. I appreciate that.”
“By the way, I talked to my brother, Derrick. He plans to come home Friday. He said he’d like to see you.”
Elsie smiled. “I always like it when men want to see me.”
“I told him you were beautiful and he said he couldn’t wait to see for himself.”
“Thanks, honey. That was sweet of you.”
“Well, you are beautiful, Elsie. I think you’re a lot prettier than your sister, though you do favor her.
“I can’t wait to tell Erline you said that. She’s such a snob. Do you know she told me I wasn’t cultured enough for her friends at the country club?”
“I don’t believe that.”
“It’s true. I’m going to get even with her someday, too.”
“How?”
“Oh, I know lots of things on my sister. Things she’d rather die than have made public. I’m thinking about putting them on the web. I even have some old pictures of her which she’d never want published.”
“Boy, Elsie, I’m glad we’re friends. I wouldn’t want you to get mad at me.”
“You don’t have a thing to worry about, Janice. You’ve never been rude to me nor done anything underhanded. You’re safe.”
“That makes me feel better.”
“Now, I’ve got to run and put my plans in action. Be sure to let me know after you talk to Cliff. Tell him I want to meet with him. You have my cell number, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll keep it on and wait for your call. Together we’ll fix Ms. Nicole Lynch, but good! You won’t have to wonder anymore if she’s your long lost sister, and I won’t have to worry about her staying in Connor’s life. What could be better than that?”
“Not a thing, Elsie. Not a thing.”
* * * *
Nicole and Connor stood in Lita’s front hall after they returned from Savannah. He’d spent an hour with Nicole and her landlady. They talked about the trip and the wonderful food they’d had.
He wasn’t going to say anything about where they stayed, but Nicole spilled it all. She told Lita how beautiful the room was and about the Jacuzzi and the wonderful service the staff at the inn rendered them. At times, he wanted to reach out and stop her, but didn’t. He knew right away Lita understood they had spent every night together.
Now as he was kissing Nicole good-by, he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to grab her suitcase and take her home with him, or at least pick her up and carry her to the room she rented upstairs. He knew he could do neither.
“I’m going to miss you tonight,” he whispered against her lips.
“I’ll miss you too,” she whispered back. “Think about me.”
“Until we’re together again, I’ll think about nothing else.”
“I love you Connor.”
“I love you, too, Nicole.”
They kissed again and she whispered, “Good night.”
“See you tomorrow, Cinderella.”
* * * *
She closed the door behind him and turned the bolt. For a minute she stood at the door wishing she could call him back for one more kiss.
Lita interrupted her thoughts. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you, Nicole?”
Nicole saw no reason not to tell Lita the truth. “Yes, I am. I’m very much in love with him.”
“He loves you too, you know.”
“I think he’s falling in love with me.”
“No, honey. He loves you. It’s written all over his face. He may not even know it yet, but he’s probably as much in love with you as you are with him.”
Nicole turned and put her arm around her landlady. “I hope you’re right, Lita. I really hope so.”
“You did use protection in Savannah, didn’t you?”
“Most of the time.”
Lita stared at her. “What do you mean, most of the time?”
“Well, one night it was storming and we woke up. And well...you know...we kind of got carried away.”
“I know what I’m going to do tomorrow,” Lita said with determination in her voice.
“What’s that?”
“I’m calling my doctor and getting you in to see him and just pray it’s not already too late. You need birth control pills, girl.”
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