Shadows of Yesterday
Page 14
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He eased his lips over her cheek to her ear. “Do you still think of me as a ‘good boy’?” His breath was as much a caress as his searching lips.
“No,” she sighed. “No.”
He caught her hand and brought it to his mouth, planting a hot kiss in the palm. Her heart thumped loudly in her breast. “I didn’t know what you’d think of me showing up unexpectedly last night. That’s why I didn’t call first. I was afraid you’d refuse to see me.”
“I wouldn’t have.”
“I couldn’t risk it. I had to see you.”
“Why, Chad?”
His thumb drew circles on the pulsing veins in her wrist. Lifting her hand to his lips again, he spoke against her fingers. “Because ever since I left you in that hospital, you’ve dominated my thoughts.”
“As the woman whose baby you delivered?”
“No.” His wandering finger toyed with the lobe of her ear. “As the woman I wanted to get to know better and who was probably devastated by what had happened to her. God, the way I looked that day, you must have been scared to death of me.”
“Only for a few minutes. You were so kind.”
“You were so beautiful.”
“I looked ghastly.”
“You looked like a painting.”
“Sure—Dali!”
“Della Robbia. I told you then and I still think so. Every time I see you, Leigh, you’re more desirable.”
He kissed her again, seeming to draw sustenance from her. She had no reservoir of strength to use against the assault of his lips and tongue. When he had drunk his fill and moved to her neck, tremors continued to vibrate through her body, leaving her weak and dizzy. His hand at her waist drifted upward over her ribs, back down, up again, more dangerously close to her breast this time. His thumb curved beneath the soft swell. “Chad,” she gasped, pushing against his forearm. “I… I’ve got to go back to work,” she said, avoiding his eyes and running nervous hands over her clothes in an effort to straighten them.
He looked at her a moment. She knew he was watching her face, though she kept her eyes glued to the crease in her slacks. She heard his sigh a moment before he shoved open his door.
He helped her out of the truck and they rushed across the parking lot, huddled together against the frigid wind. Gaining the entrance to the mall, he pulled her against the brick wall of the building and protected her from the wind with his powerful body.
“Can I come by tonight?” He saw her caution, her hesitation, her intention to say no. “Am I coming on too fast, Leigh?”
Despite the eroticism of her thoughts the night before, she knew she couldn’t enter into a casual affair. She had not only her life to think of, but Sarah’s, too, and such an arrangement would compromise them both. Accepting Chad as a lover would be so easy to do, but sex for sex’s sake went against everything Leigh believed in. It was best to let him know how she felt now. “If you’re looking for a quick, flash-in-the-pan fling, I’m not the one,” she warned sternly.
“I know that. And personally I like my sex slow and well done.” His mouth quirked into a beguiling grin, and his charismatic eyes sparkled mischievously. Like Bubba’s wife, like old Mrs. Lomax, like Sue, like her own baby daughter, Leigh succumbed to his charm. Her austerity deflated like a parachute settling onto the ground. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?” he pressed.
“For dinner?” she asked in a surrendering voice.
“No,” he said regretfully. “I have an obligation until around nine. Is that too late?”
“No.”
“Good.” Ducking his head, he kissed her quickly. “What is it?” he asked when he felt her laughter.
“I’ve never been kissed by anyone wearing a cowboy hat before.”
His eyes were piercingly blue through a forest of dark lashes. “Get used to it,” he growled.
He pushed them inside the heavy glass doors and they went toward her office. The crew of maintenance workers was congregated around the large fountain where she had left them.
“See you around nine.” He cuffed her playfully under the chin. “You go on and get rid of your coat and do whatever it is that takes ladies so long to do in the restroom. I’ll tell the gang you’re on your way.” He nodded toward the men waiting for her.
“All right, thank you for lunch. I’ll see you tonight.”
* * *
It was ten o’clock. The cake Leigh had baked had cooled. Sarah was already asleep in her crib. And Chad wasn’t there yet.
Her work at the mall had progressed well for the remainder of the afternoon. She had finalized plans for the Christmas decorations with the crew assigned to her. They would be ready to go to work on the following Sunday. Leigh didn’t anticipate too many problems.
Her meeting with the Saddle Club Estates group was another matter. Leigh had been approached by a committee of homeowners representing the more exclusive residential area of Midland. The committee wanted her to coordinate the exterior Christmas decorations for each house in the neighborhood, but they couldn’t agree on a color scheme. Leigh, ready to pull her hair out with impatience, had reminded them that time was running out.
“If you want any decorations up by the second week of December, you’ll have to let me know by the end of this week.”
With their promise to do so, she had left the meeting to pick up Sarah. She had fed the baby, played with her until she grew fussy, then put her to bed. That allowed her time to take a bubble bath and reapply her makeup.
She giggled as she looked at her image in the mirror. It was ego-elevating to be dressing for a man. She didn’t remember having been this excited in a long time. Would Chad think she was trying too hard? Would he back off, thinking she was a lonely widow, pathetically eager for the first unattached male to pay attention to her? Would he think her avowal that she didn’t believe in casual sex was only a coy come-on?
Play it cool, Leigh, she cautioned herself. But it was hard to pretend indifference when every time she thought of Chad, she became as giddy and breathless as a teenager. And he was “rushing” her with a determination that was as flattering as it was disturbing.
But as the hours of the evening passed and he hadn’t even called, Leigh began to think she had been self-deceptively foolish. At lunch it had seemed that Chad had every woman in town panting after him. What did he need with her, whom he had met under the least erotic of circumstances, and who had an infant as well? His virility was too blatant to question. No doubt since this afternoon, when she had cautioned him that she wasn’t interested in an insouciant fling, he had had a change of heart. A reluctant widow, not to mention a baby, would surely cramp his style.
“No,” she sighed. “No.”
He caught her hand and brought it to his mouth, planting a hot kiss in the palm. Her heart thumped loudly in her breast. “I didn’t know what you’d think of me showing up unexpectedly last night. That’s why I didn’t call first. I was afraid you’d refuse to see me.”
“I wouldn’t have.”
“I couldn’t risk it. I had to see you.”
“Why, Chad?”
His thumb drew circles on the pulsing veins in her wrist. Lifting her hand to his lips again, he spoke against her fingers. “Because ever since I left you in that hospital, you’ve dominated my thoughts.”
“As the woman whose baby you delivered?”
“No.” His wandering finger toyed with the lobe of her ear. “As the woman I wanted to get to know better and who was probably devastated by what had happened to her. God, the way I looked that day, you must have been scared to death of me.”
“Only for a few minutes. You were so kind.”
“You were so beautiful.”
“I looked ghastly.”
“You looked like a painting.”
“Sure—Dali!”
“Della Robbia. I told you then and I still think so. Every time I see you, Leigh, you’re more desirable.”
He kissed her again, seeming to draw sustenance from her. She had no reservoir of strength to use against the assault of his lips and tongue. When he had drunk his fill and moved to her neck, tremors continued to vibrate through her body, leaving her weak and dizzy. His hand at her waist drifted upward over her ribs, back down, up again, more dangerously close to her breast this time. His thumb curved beneath the soft swell. “Chad,” she gasped, pushing against his forearm. “I… I’ve got to go back to work,” she said, avoiding his eyes and running nervous hands over her clothes in an effort to straighten them.
He looked at her a moment. She knew he was watching her face, though she kept her eyes glued to the crease in her slacks. She heard his sigh a moment before he shoved open his door.
He helped her out of the truck and they rushed across the parking lot, huddled together against the frigid wind. Gaining the entrance to the mall, he pulled her against the brick wall of the building and protected her from the wind with his powerful body.
“Can I come by tonight?” He saw her caution, her hesitation, her intention to say no. “Am I coming on too fast, Leigh?”
Despite the eroticism of her thoughts the night before, she knew she couldn’t enter into a casual affair. She had not only her life to think of, but Sarah’s, too, and such an arrangement would compromise them both. Accepting Chad as a lover would be so easy to do, but sex for sex’s sake went against everything Leigh believed in. It was best to let him know how she felt now. “If you’re looking for a quick, flash-in-the-pan fling, I’m not the one,” she warned sternly.
“I know that. And personally I like my sex slow and well done.” His mouth quirked into a beguiling grin, and his charismatic eyes sparkled mischievously. Like Bubba’s wife, like old Mrs. Lomax, like Sue, like her own baby daughter, Leigh succumbed to his charm. Her austerity deflated like a parachute settling onto the ground. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?” he pressed.
“For dinner?” she asked in a surrendering voice.
“No,” he said regretfully. “I have an obligation until around nine. Is that too late?”
“No.”
“Good.” Ducking his head, he kissed her quickly. “What is it?” he asked when he felt her laughter.
“I’ve never been kissed by anyone wearing a cowboy hat before.”
His eyes were piercingly blue through a forest of dark lashes. “Get used to it,” he growled.
He pushed them inside the heavy glass doors and they went toward her office. The crew of maintenance workers was congregated around the large fountain where she had left them.
“See you around nine.” He cuffed her playfully under the chin. “You go on and get rid of your coat and do whatever it is that takes ladies so long to do in the restroom. I’ll tell the gang you’re on your way.” He nodded toward the men waiting for her.
“All right, thank you for lunch. I’ll see you tonight.”
* * *
It was ten o’clock. The cake Leigh had baked had cooled. Sarah was already asleep in her crib. And Chad wasn’t there yet.
Her work at the mall had progressed well for the remainder of the afternoon. She had finalized plans for the Christmas decorations with the crew assigned to her. They would be ready to go to work on the following Sunday. Leigh didn’t anticipate too many problems.
Her meeting with the Saddle Club Estates group was another matter. Leigh had been approached by a committee of homeowners representing the more exclusive residential area of Midland. The committee wanted her to coordinate the exterior Christmas decorations for each house in the neighborhood, but they couldn’t agree on a color scheme. Leigh, ready to pull her hair out with impatience, had reminded them that time was running out.
“If you want any decorations up by the second week of December, you’ll have to let me know by the end of this week.”
With their promise to do so, she had left the meeting to pick up Sarah. She had fed the baby, played with her until she grew fussy, then put her to bed. That allowed her time to take a bubble bath and reapply her makeup.
She giggled as she looked at her image in the mirror. It was ego-elevating to be dressing for a man. She didn’t remember having been this excited in a long time. Would Chad think she was trying too hard? Would he back off, thinking she was a lonely widow, pathetically eager for the first unattached male to pay attention to her? Would he think her avowal that she didn’t believe in casual sex was only a coy come-on?
Play it cool, Leigh, she cautioned herself. But it was hard to pretend indifference when every time she thought of Chad, she became as giddy and breathless as a teenager. And he was “rushing” her with a determination that was as flattering as it was disturbing.
But as the hours of the evening passed and he hadn’t even called, Leigh began to think she had been self-deceptively foolish. At lunch it had seemed that Chad had every woman in town panting after him. What did he need with her, whom he had met under the least erotic of circumstances, and who had an infant as well? His virility was too blatant to question. No doubt since this afternoon, when she had cautioned him that she wasn’t interested in an insouciant fling, he had had a change of heart. A reluctant widow, not to mention a baby, would surely cramp his style.
