The
Diner of Love
3503 Angel Square Court
Llanview, PA
"Nothin' Could Be Finer Than Some
Lovin' In the Diner"
"There ain't no lovin' like some diner lovin', hey ho"
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"Nothin' Could Be Finer Than Some
Lovin' In the Diner" |
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What can I get you?
Coffee's a dollar
I hope you like whip cream.
I just love the Voice of the Night. We have this special connection. |
The Next Act
CHAPTER SIX
When he opened the door, she finally let herself breathe and think. All the way over she’d been afraid that he wouldn’t be here and she’d have to figure out where to find him, even if that took all night. When he opened the door he actually smiled at her. “Hey,” he said. “What’s going on?” He suddenly frowned. “Is there a problem? Did something happen to Shane?” “Yes,” she said, “but Shane is fine. Layla's with him. We’re not.” His eyes widened but then they narrowed and he exhaled. “Look, I don’t know what this is about but this is probably not a good time. I’m expecting company. And—“ She brushed past him. “This is important.” He mumbled something under his breath, then turned and faced her. He left the door ajar to make it clear, she supposed, that he expected her to leave right away. “What’s this about, Gigi?” “I think we need to talk about the divorce.” He frowned. “Why? Look, the papers are signed. It’s over. Let it be.” She put her hands on her hips and said a silent prayer. This had to work. It just had to. “You can’t spare a minute to talk about ending something so important.” Brody’s eyes flashed. “Important? I don’t think you believe that for even a minute. And, look, Sarah is going to be here in a few minutes. There really isn’t any need to make this more complicated than is necessary.” “Sarah? What is wrong with you? You know she’s hurt and licking her wounds over Cris. You don’t have a right to take advantage of her like that.” “Taking advantage of her? What the hell? Why would you say that to me?” She hated it when he played dumb. Yes he was using Sarah. There couldn’t be any other reason she was like a post-it note stuck to the bottom of his shoe lately. “Why else would she be hanging around you? You’re leading her on.” “I may not be the best one for her to talk to, but Sarah is hurt. The man she loves ran back to the first love of his life. I guess I can relate to that, you know?” She gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain that blow had delivered. “She’s hurt and vulnerable and you’re swooping in like some kind of vulture.” “So now I’m a freaking vulture?” “You know what I mean.” “I know that you really ought to leave.” “I don’t want to…” Her voice died in her throat and she reached for the words. His eyes were suddenly hard. “You don’t want to leave? Why?” It was now or never. “I don’t want the divorce,” she said in a rush of words. He stepped back. “Stop playing games, Gigi. What’s this really about?” “Are you listening to me at all, or has Sarah jammed up your ears like blonde earwax?” He shook his head and stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “This is crazy,” he muttered. “No. This is finally right.” He exhaled and took a step back. “Don’t do this, okay? What’s different now? You never wanted to be with me. Not even back—“ “I thought you were dead.” “Did you think Balsom was dead?” “No…but…” “Why? Because you didn’t feel it? You thought he didn’t want you so you didn’t go looking for him but you knew I wanted you but you didn’t go looking for me either.” “I thought you were dead. Your mother told me…so I packed up and left. This is crazy, Brody. I never thought your mother would lie to me about something that important.” “Yup,” he said and then ran his tongue over his front teeth. “You didn’t stick around for the funeral? Didn’t want to come to say goodbye?" “Your mother told me not to show up. And I didn’t want to see them put you in the ground. I just didn’t.” “But you never once went to my supposed grave or brought a flower or tried to talk to my buddies about how I died. You just crossed me off your list and acted as if I never existed.” “That’s not true. And I gave you to my son. I kept you alive through him.” “Yeah, I guess there’s that. But once I turned out to be miraculously alive, you actually hated the idea because it wasn’t really me you gave to him; it was Balsom in a uniform.” What did he just say? “No. Stop rewriting history. I may have let Shane romanticize you but I never told him about Rex and said it was you. I was always talking about you. I told Shane you were sweet, brave and honorable. All the things you were…are. But you know how complicated the situation was.” “Yeah, I know. Just like I know this is making no sense whatsoever.” “I love you.” He laughed. It was a bitter sound and it actually hurt as it scraped across her consciousness. “No you don’t,” he said. ”God knows I wanted you to say that to me for so long and mean it, but it never happened and it never will.” “I just said it. Why don’t you believe me?” “You’re joking, right?” “Brody” He splayed his hands open. “Can’t do this. You need to go. Go home. Or go to Balsom. Just go. Okay?” “When he left me, he destroyed me. It’s like he cut my heart out and everything I was didn’t matter anymore.” Brody made a show of emptying his lungs, narrowed his eyes then nodded. “Okay” “You saved me, but I couldn’t trust that. How could I trust that you loved me when the man who was supposed to didn’t? He didn’t even call. He destroyed me, Brody. Then you left me, too.” “Okay.” She took a step closer to him. “I needed for him to love me again to prove I was worth something. Don’t you understand?” “Okay.” “That’s why I never told him about Shane after we crossed paths again. I needed him to love me and not to come back just because of Shane.” “Sure. I get it. Okay.” Damn him. He was tuning her out and not even pretending to listen. She looked him in the eye and said, “I finally realize that I don’t love him. It’s always been about rewriting the past.” Brody shook his head. “That’s a foolish mission," he said in a flat, neutral tone as if he was making a presentation at a military briefing. "The odds are never in your favor on that kind of mission. Better to calculate the odds of such a strategy rather than just jumping in with both feet.” “Stop it. Are you listening to me at all, Brody? I don’t love him. And I do love you. It’s been that way for a long time. I was just too stupid to see it.” “Okay.” She bit her lower lip and tried to keep the tears that sprang into her eyes from rolling down her cheeks. He stared at her then glanced away. He took another step back, and took his hands out of the pockets of his jeans then stuck them back in again. Finally he focused his gaze on her. “You know I held my breath waiting for you for ten years. That’s one skill the seals taught me. I can hold my breath for a really long time. For ten years whenever I was in a bar I sat facing the door.” What? She studied his face and tried to decipher what he meant. “I was looking for you,” he said softly. “I was waiting for you to walk through the door. I don’t care where I was what continent I was on, what country I was in I held my breath and waited for you to come to your senses, walk through the door and come back to me.” “Brody” “I signed those papers, Gigi, and I exhaled. I can’t … I won’t hold my breath again.” She nodded her head then looked him in the eye. “Then I guess I’ll have to take a big breath and hold it for both of us.” He frowned then looked away. “Knock yourself out,” he said finally in a chilly tone, “but I can tell you from experience that it doesn’t work.” Why couldn't he hear her? What was wrong with him? “I’m sorry,” she said, “about everything.” He looked past her, sighed and then tightened his lips into a straight line. He shook his head and raised his hand and backed away from her. He turned and walked toward the couch. “Don’t do that, please,” she said. “Don’t shut down on me.” He whirled around. “What do you want from me? I’ve spent the last five months trying to give you everything you could want but I finally realized that there’s nothing I can do to make you happy.” “That’s not true.” “What? You think I didn’t try hard enough? I gave you all I could.” “You made me happy. It was just losing the baby that set me back and I…” “And I wasn’t Balsom. I get it. Okay? Can we table this discussion now?” “You don’t understand.” “Okay, I’m just a dumbass in your eyes.” Tears flushed her eyes and she couldn’t hold them back. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. You’re just trying to hurt me now.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry. Please, just go. Okay?” Gigi walked close to him, put her arms around his neck and held onto him with all of her might. She didn’t try to block her tears. He stood stiffly but slowly he began to move his arms and finally he wrapped them around her. She kissed him and he began to kiss her back. A thrill shot through her body. It felt so good to be back in his arms. “What the hell is this?” Damn. She knew that voice. She turned and glared at Sarah. Brody dropped his arms and moved away from her and focused his gaze on Sarah. Gigi felt a surge of anger. What was wrong with Sarah? Didn’t she know Brody was married...to her? Sarah folded her arms over her chest and glared right back at her. “Sarah,” Brody said, “it’s not what you think.” “Oh, I know exactly what it is. Do you?” Brody seemed to freeze for a second and then he locked his gaze on Sarah. “What do you mean?” “She heard about Rex and Adriana and now she’s trying to clamp onto you again.” He frowned. “What about Adriana and Rex?” “Oh, she didn’t tell you? I bet she didn’t.” “Didn’t tell me what, Sarah? Stop playing word games.” “Rex went over to France or Spain or wherever it was Adriana was getting married and busted up the wedding and ran off with Adriana. They’re back together. And so your soon-to-be-ex-wife is back trawling for a meal ticket in familiar waters.” “That’s enough, Sarah,” Brody said in a gruff voice. Sarah blushed and looked away. Brody shifted his gaze to Gigi. “You need to go.” Gigi reached out to him. “We need to get this straight. Don’t let her—“ “Not any more,” he said. His voice had gone hard and cold again. “What we need is for you to leave and to stop trying to pull my chain.” She tried to hold his gaze but he was gone. His eyes were like blank slates. There was nothing there. Her breath caught in her throat again. She’d lost. “Gigi,” he said. She walked to the door and stepped out into the hallway. She looked back. He was staring at her neutrally. Sarah was smirking. She tried to meet his gaze one more time, but there was nothing there to hold onto. She grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door shut with a bang.
Brody finally breathed when the door banged shut. That was it. Finally. Sarah rushed next to him. “I’m so glad you didn’t fall for her nonsense,” she said. Brody glanced over at her and then nodded his head. “Why don’t you sit down,” he said. “I have something I want to say to you.” Sarah grinned and perched on the couch. He studied her for a minute and then sat on the couch on the other end. He leaned toward her and said, “I haven’t been fair to you.” Sarah frowned. “What do you mean?” “I thought I was being kind but maybe it was just as a way to stroke my ego. It’s not fair to let you think there’s more to this than there is. I really like you but we will never be more than friends.” Sarah jumped up and took a step toward him. “Why? Because Gigi’s all over you again just because she can’t have Rex? Again.” He held his ground and tempered his voice. “This was never about anything more than friendship to me, Sarah. Gigi and I are getting a divorce. That hasn’t changed, but there is no you and me.” “Why? Why don’t I deserve a chance?” “Because you’re not really interested in me. This is about Cris and I’m not getting into another relationship where I’m not even a part of the equation.” “That’s not it.” “Yes it is. And I’ve used up all my stupid points for one lifetime.” Sarah stared at him for a few seconds then flopped down on the couch and began to cry. Brody sighed. He didn’t know how many more crying females he could deal with in one day. “I just wanted something to hold onto, you know,” Sarah said, ”to help me keep my balance. Cris has been calling me lately. He even dedicated a song to me on the radio but he’s still with her. I don’t know what he wants.” He glanced up at the ceiling for a second then squared his shoulders and said, “I loved Gigi for a long time and if there is one lesson I’ve learned it’s when people don’t love you back you have to let them go. Don’t waste your life hoping and waiting for something that is never going to come or believing double messages are the truth.” “I tried so hard.” “I know, but you can’t make people love you. I wish I had known that ten years ago.”
He’d planned to order a pizza when Sarah came over but she left fairly abruptly after their talk, which was a good thing. She needed to lick her wounds and pick herself up and leaning on him wasn’t helping. But he was still hungry and didn’t want pizza anymore. The casserole he had with Shane and Gigi felt like a million days ago. What he wanted was a Rodi’s burger and fries. A storm was rolling in though. He listened to the distant thunder and calculated how long it would be before the storm hit. He decided he could probably make a run for takeout and be back before it broke. As if on cue a nasty bit of thunder rocked the sky and lightening flashed and illuminated the room for a second. Was that a sign? Didn’t matter. Trying to keep out of the rain was like trying to keep out of life. He grabbed his jacket and car keys. Rodi’s was rocking. He smiled. It was good to be in a crowd but given his mood he really didn’t want to be there for a long time, so he was going to get his hamburger and leave. He placed his order and then sat at the bar and waited while he drank a soda. He really wanted a beer but he wasn’t going to do that tonight. That scene with Gigi had rattled him more than she would ever know and that was always the worst time to drink. He was still Shane’s father and he wasn’t going to forget that again. “Brody, what a surprise. Nice to see you. Can you join me at my table?” He looked up and smiled. It was Viki Davidson. “Sure. I’m waiting for takeout but it’s gonna be ten minutes or so.” “Perfect,” Viki said. He walked with her to her table and pulled out her chair then dropped into the other chair across from her. “How are things at Midnight Motors?” Viki asked. “Great. We had a solid opening and with these high gas prices sales are starting to go through the roof.” “I am so pleased to hear that. Shane just talks about you and the shop all of the time. He is very impressed with his…dad.” He heard the catch in Viki’s voice and suspected that she knew the truth either from Gigi or Shane. “I guess you know about the Balsom thing,” Brody said, “But I really do think of myself as his dad.” “Well, he is crazy about you. I hear you’ve left the Carriage House, though.” “Yes. It was time.” She shrugged. “Shane sure misses you. He talks about that a lot, too.” “He’s my son in all the ways that matter and I will never leave him. You can be sure of that.” “Actually, I do believe that.” He focused his gaze on her and she smiled and nodded. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of that. Everyone knew Viki Davidson was quite fond of Rex Balsom and he always suspected Viki had encouraged Gigi to pursue Rex. But what did it matter? That was so much water under the bridge now. Someone called his name. He glanced over and saw the bartender holding up his bag. He looked at Viki and said, “My food’s ready. I’ve got to run. Nice seeing you, Mrs. Davidson.” “Nice seeing you as well. And, Brody, if you ever want to talk about…things, please feel free to drop in at Llanfair any time. You are always welcome.” He smiled and thanked her then grabbed his food and left. He didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about what all of that meant. The night air felt moist and dark clouds rushed past the moon blocking its light off and on. The storm was about to burst open the sky. He felt a drop of water hit him and he picked up his pace. He got to the car, opened the door and tossed the bag on the back seat and was just about to swing into the driver’s seat when she spoke his name. He turned and saw Gigi standing at the back of the car parked next to him. “I want to explain,” she said. Damn. Was this ever going to end? He slammed the car door shut and walked toward her. She barely spoke to him for two months now he couldn’t take a step without her appearing and wanting to talk. This needed to end, once and for all. “It’s been settled,” he said. “I don’t know what you’re doing or why, but I have someplace else to be.” “Don’t do this.” “Do what, Gigi? Act like I have a brain in my head?” “Oh” “Whatever you have in mind, just won’t work. And you know that. The rest of this is just useless.” She wet her lips. “I did know about Rex and Adriana but that’s not why I said what I did. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about them, but I swear it just skipped my mind. Honestly, all I could think about was you and making things right between us. It just didn’t dawn on me that you would think that’s why I came to you.” Yeah, right. “Gigi, this isn't high school, but I swear it’s like you and Balsom are stuck there. That’s okay because it’s not my problem anymore.” “No. If Sarah hadn’t interrupted us, I could have explained.” “Sarah? What has she got to do with anything, Gigi? You’ve worked yourself up into some kind phony adolescent jealous rant over Sarah to cover what this is really all about. So what do we really have to talk about?” “Everything.” “No. Not going to happen. It’s raining. Go home. We can talk some other time.” Or not. “No.” "No?” “You’re afraid of a little water, Lieutenant?” “This is screwed up, Gigi. We’re standing here getting wet like some kind scene from a stupid movie. Let it go.” “The kind of movie where the guy forgives the girl and the music swells in the background?” He shook his head. “Always the smart one, but there’re no cameras or music or an audience cheering. It’s just the two of us in this parking lot talking but not making a whole lot of sense and getting wet.” “You don’t understand.” “Yes, I do. Rex chose Adriana…again. And you figured I was better than nothing. You can try to shape that truth and deny it all you want but it doesn’t change anything.” “I was alone for ten years. I could handle being alone again.” “So what do you want from me?” “Did you hear me when I said I love you?” “I heard the words but let’s be frank, words come even easier when you don’t mean them. Now I’ve got to go.” “Brody,” she said. He ignored her and walked back to his car, got in and started the engine. She stood her ground as he backed out of the parking space. He arched the car and then straightened it and drove toward the exit. He wouldn’t let himself look at her. It was over. Over. He stopped and waited for the traffic on the boulevard to clear enough to give him an opening to merge. He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw her still standing there. What was wrong with her? It was really raining now. Why was she doing this? Was she going to stand there and drown? He waited and watched her. She didn't move. Finally, he exhaled and then put the car in reverse and backed up as fast as he could next to her. She still didn’t move. He leaned over and opened the car door. “Get in,” he said. She jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. “I don’t know what you think this means,” he said. She didn’t respond. Instead she lifted her chin and stared straight ahead.
He took her to the apartment because she was soaked and the Carriage House was at least twenty minutes away. Maybe this time they could get it right and put the period at the end of this discussion once and for all. Then he could take her home and get on with his new life without having to worry about her popping up every other second. He took off his jacket and gave to her. She got out of the car and held his jacket up like an umbrella and made a mad dash for the covered portico that led to the stairs leading to the second level of building 4. He was two steps behind her but the rain hadn’t let up and two steps were all that was needed for him to get totally soaked. They ran up the stairs even though they were now safe from the assault of the rain pellets. They rushed to his apartment door and she shook water from her hair as he opened the door to his apartment and stepped back to let her in. “Oh,” she said. “I forgot about the floors. Hardwood floors don’t like water.” “They’re sealed.” “Okay, but no against a torrent of water. How about we make a run for the kitchen? There’s tile there right?” “Yeah. And there’s a load of towels in the dryer.” She smiled up at him. “Been using a lot of towels lately?” “I just had one set, so I bought some and I just washed them to make them soft, you know.” “I know. I was just teasing you.” He glanced away. She took off her shoes then made a run for the kitchen. He watched her. She looked so funny making hopping leaps across the floor he couldn’t help smiling. He closed and locked the door then rushed across the floor after her. By the time he got to the kitchen, she had already hung his jacket on the back of a chair and pulled a couple of towels out of the dryer. She handed him one and then began to dry her hair. He fluffed his own hair with the towel. She walked to the dryer and pulled the rest of the towels out and piled them on top of the washer. Then she stripped off her dress. He turned away. “What?” she asked. “You’ve seen me before. We’re married.” He grunted and kept his back to her. She had no intention of playing fair. “Just let me know when the coast is clear,” he said. She exhaled. After a few seconds, she said, “Okay, I’m decent and I’ve got my back turned to you. Get out of those wet clothes. We can toss everything in the dryer.” “What?” “Our clothes. They can be dry in a few minutes.” “Oh.” He stripped out of his clothes and then wrapped the towel around his waist. and turned around. He exhaled in relief when he saw that she had a towel wrapped around her body, too. “Decent,” he said She reached for the clothes and he handed them to her. She took them, checked the pockets then loaded them into the dryer along with hers. "How long?” he asked. “About thirty minutes.” “Okay, we have about thirty minutes or so until the clothes are dry. Let’s get this over with.” She gathered the rest of the towels and brought them to the kitchen table then sat at the table and began to fold them. “Do you have anything to eat?” “No. I went to Rodi’s for takeout. And the soggy, rain soaked bag is still in the car. ” “Okay, Houston, I guess we need to come up with Plan B.” “Far as I’m concerned we can just sit here.” “Ummmmmm. Let me think about that for a minute,” she said and to continued to carefully fold the towels. She finished and stacked them on the table. “I guess we could just sit here and pick at lint for the next twenty-eight minutes.” He grimaced. He hated it when she got sarcastic. “Sounds good to me,” he said and called her bluff. “Let’s just sit here.” She stood up and grabbed the stack of towels and then walked over to the washer and placed them on top. Slowly she turned around. “I think I’d rather go with Plan C,” she said and dropped her towel. His eyes widened and he jumped up from his chair and took a step back. “What are you doing?” “Do I really have to explain it to you?” He looked her in the eye then walked across the room, reached down, picked up her towel and handed it to her. “Not this way,” he said. “You don’t want this. You’re just hurting over Balsom and Adriana—“ “I am so sick and tired of you telling me what I think, what I want, what I feel.” She grabbed the towel and wrapped it around her body. “I can speak for myself. I can ask for what I want.” He glared at her. “And I’m sick of this game. I’m going to get some dry clothes out of the bedroom and soon as it stops raining I’ll take you home.” And that’s exactly what he planned to do. He stalked out of the room, but gritted his teeth when he heard her following him. He picked up his pace but just as he entered the bedroom, she grabbed his arm. He whirled around. “What? What do you want? You want me to sex you up? I can do that just like I could do a thousand and one other girls I picked up in a bar somewhere. Is that what you really want?”
If that’s all she could get. She held her breath. She was not going to back down. This was too important. She took a step forward and stopped. Then took another step closer and reached for his towel and pulled until it fell away. “I need you,” she said. “It’s as simple as that.” He stared at her. She told herself to breathe but she couldn’t find anything to hold onto. Her body felt like someone had set it on fire. If he didn’t touch her in the next second she was going to ignite. He sighed then walked to the bed and threw the covers back then folded his arms over his chest. She could read the challenge in his eyes but he didn’t know her at all if he thought she was going to back down. Instead, she walked in front of him and stood still and few inches away, then wait. She could hear the pitch of his breathing change but he did not move. Why didn’t he touch her? She was so hot that just a whisper of a touch would set her into a near frenzy. She stepped even closer and rubbed her hands across his chest and then looked up into his eyes. She could see that he didn’t trust that she knew what she was doing and asking of him. She’d have to make that clear. She pressed her body against his and kissed him. He relaxed his arms and she slowly eased her hands up to his armpits and then snaked them around and gripped his back. She moved toward the bed with him in lock step with her and fell backwards onto the bed and drew him down on top of her. He seemed to give up trying to resist her. He kissed her passionately then pulled away. She scooted further back on the bed. He followed and then he climbed on top of her, spread her legs and mounted her. As soon as he touched her she suddenly couldn’t control her breathing. He covered her mouth with his. He was like air to her. He broke the kiss and she moaned with ferocity she never experienced before as he found his rhythm and began a thrusting motion that sent waves of ice and fire through her body. He moaned and then buried his mouth in her neck creating a sensation that would have brought her to orgasm all on its own. She arched up to meet him and she wasn’t sure but it sounded like she was singing a song that only had one word. It was his name and she lost all points of reference to time and place. There was a world somewhere. There was the two of them and they were somewhere but that was all she knew. She literally felt as if she’d merged with him and they were flying along a current of air. Then there was an explosion and suddenly they were falling. She crashed to the ground that was as soft as his body was hard. She held onto to him and the spasms from his body rolled over her like waves made of points of light. Slowly her head began to clear and as a space dipped in moonlight came into focus. Where was she? The only thing she could think was that wherever she was she never wanted to leave. She fell asleep. She knew she was asleep because she was dreaming. She was somewhere warm and the sun seemed to be shining overhead. She glanced around and noted she was at the beach. There were palm trees tinted purple and the sand on the beach was white and dotted with green and blue flecks and the ocean was aqua blue. She was lying on a red beach blanket wearing a yellow and white polka-dot bikini. She was alone, but she wasn’t supposed to be alone. She’d been alone too long. She felt the blanket next to her as if she could magically make someone appear. She was in paradise alone. Just as a wave of sadness swept over her she saw him emerge from the ocean. He took off his swim goggles and walked through the surf toward her. He had on the same kind of swim trunks that guy in the James Bond movie wore and he looked so gorgeous she stopped breathing. He walked to the blanket and dropped down next to her, and then music swelled in the background. She looked around and there was no band in sight nor portable CD player or iPod. The music was just dancing on the air. She rolled over and faced Brody. A purple dolphin jumped high and made a squealing sound. Then the music swelled. It was a country-western song. She’d heard enough of CW while she was in Texas to recognize a country song but she didn’t know who it was, but it was this really slow melodic song.
I know that the bridges
I have burned along the way
Brody offered her a big red strawberry dipped in chocolate and she reached for it greedily. He held back until she laid back and he fed it to her slowly. The music played on and she had never tasted anything so sweet.
I love when you tell me
I’m pretty when I just wake up.
Then suddenly there was a flash and everything was gone. She opened her eyes and then felt over and realized his side of the bed was empty. For a second she felt lost then she saw him standing by the window looking out. He was naked and the moonlight alternated strips of light along his body. The radio was playing softly. The DJ announced the song that had just played was Lady Antebellum’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” She wasn’t lost. She was back in the world that mattered, where things didn’t just disappear in a flash. She got up slowly and walked behind him. He seemed to be in very deep thought, although she knew he was aware of her. She wrapped his arms around his waist and laid her head on his back but he didn’t move. She moved her hips against him and eased her hands around to his chest. Then she moved her hands downward and felt him respond to her almost immediately. She kissed his back. Slowly he turned around and then lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and threw her head back as the exquisite sensation of his body touching hers careened through her consciousness. He buried his head in her neck and kissed her long and hard. “I stayed alive,” he whispered softly in her ear. “All those missions I stayed alive for you.” She gripped him tighter and he carried her to the bed and put her down. He pulled her to the edge and hooked his arms her knees and lifted her up and then he entered her slowly until she begged him to put her out of her misery. He began to thrust and she lost all sense of time—everything was now and everything was here. She screamed as she lost the ability to hold back. He pulled her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with hard urgent kisses that actually made her lips hurt. He carried her around to the other side of the bed and then they tumbled onto the bed locked together. He held her in place and moved in and out of her until his body shuddered and he cried out. Finally, he seemed spent. He rolled over on his back and she tried to catch her breath. She covered her eyes with her arm and tried to find some measure of control. She listened to his breathing and when it became more regular, she moved close to him, pressed her body next to his, laid her head on his chest and fell asleep.
When she woke up again, it was morning. He was asleep next to her and suddenly she felt embarrassed. She had never in her life been with a man that way. All she had wanted was for him to be in her, on her, around her, with her…there was no shame, she’d been willing to do anything to please him or to feel his arms around her or to … She told herself to breathe. It was morning now. What did it all mean? She got up, went to the kitchen, opened the dryer and got their clothes. She walked back to the bedroom and put his on the corner of the bed then went into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her lips were swollen and tinged pink and there was a big hickey on her neck. Her eyes though had never seemed clearer. They actually seemed to sparkle. She took a quick shower and dressed. When she came out of the bathroom he was awake. He looked at her and then glanced away. “I’ll go make some coffee,” she said. “Or I’ll get the water going and let you do it.” He nodded and pulled back the covers. She turned away instead of looking at him and walked quickly to the kitchen. She put on the water to boil, and then pulled out the coffee and the French press and the cups. A few minutes later, he walked into the kitchen. He had on a t-shirt and jeans and his hair was damp from the shower and his feet were bare, but he may as well have been naked the way she reacted just to the sight of him. He measured out the coffee and put the grounds in the carafe and then poured the water in. He brought the pot to the table along with the cups. “You want something to eat? I can run out to get something.” “No. I’m okay.” He stared her for a few seconds. “Did I do that to you?” Her hand flew to the hickey she’d noticed on her neck. “I hope so,” she said. He looked off to the side but she saw the smile flicker across his face. He pressed the plunger down on the French Press slowly. When it reached the bottom, he poured coffee in each of the two cups and passed one to her. They drank in silence for a minute. “Last night was really…something,” he said. Something? Last night was a hundred times more incredible than incredible. “It was,” she said. “I think you called my name,” he said. The hint of wonder in his voice made her stop short. Didn’t he have any idea how she felt? How he made her feel? “If I remember correctly,” she said, “I called your name lots and lots of times.” He dipped his head and then shook it. “You know this doesn’t change anything, right? We still need to get the divorce. I…we need to move on.” She looked him in the eye and studied him for a few seconds then shrugged. “Okay,” she said and tried to hide her smile.
CHAPTER 7
The Back Deck Fan Fiction
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