Escaping the Past (Wester Farms) (14 page)

“You probably should,” she said quietly, her arms trembling.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“You’re going to go away some time soon, Brody,” she groaned. “I don’t want to fall for you.”
Any harder than I already have.

“You do have a point.” He nodded and then raised an eyebrow. “But the best laid plans of mice and men…”

“Often go awry,” she finished for him breathlessly as she stood on tiptoe and placed her lips against his.

He immediately enveloped her in his arms, as though her invitation was all he needed. His arms moved around her waist, crossing at her back. He pulled her as tightly to him as he could, as though he could pull her right into himself.

“I can’t seem to get you off my mind
.
”
H
is lips left hers to trail across her throat.

“Same here,” she said breathlessly. His lips traced a silky pattern across her collarbone. Brody bent and slipped one arm beneath her knees and lifted her from her feet.

“Brody!” she cried. He smothered her protest with another searing kiss, his lips parting hers with his tongue. Brody sat down with her in a rocking chair and placed her in his lap. Her legs hung over the arm of the chair and her bottom fit snugly in his lap.

She tried to sit up. “I’m too heavy to sit in your lap.”

He grabbed the outside of her thigh and ceased her frantic retreat. His hand roamed up her thigh toward her bottom. “You’re perfect for sitting on my lap
.
”
H
is hand moved over her hip, up her arm, and found a place under her hair to hold her neck. He smiled at her gently and said against her closed lips
,
“Want to relax some? I promise I won’t bite.”

In response, she nipped lightly against his bottom lip.

“I can’t believe you did that
.
” he mumbled.

“Sorry,” she responded. “Let me make it better.” She
pressed
her lips to his and touched his bottom lip with her tongue. She traced the line of the lower lip with the tip of her tongue and then closed her lips against his, their tongues warring desperately.

Brody grabbed her hip and pulled her closer to him.
His
hardness pressing against her bottom and
she
shifted her body in his lap. He groaned. “Careful,” he whispered.

“Sorry. Did I hurt you?” she asked tentatively, one hand reaching to caress his cheek.

“Not in the way you think,” he said. “I haven’t enjoyed making out like this since I was eighteen.” He pulled her shirt out of her jeans and ran his hand across the skin of her waist.

“I don’t think I’ve ever made out like this.”

“I know, it feels as good as the first time, huh?”

“Something like that,” she mumbled.

His fingertips traced a pattern across her belly, causing the breath to catch in her throat and a flutter low in her stomach. She jumped as his fingers brushed the skin just an inch below her bra.

“This okay?” he asked quietly.

“I think so,” she breathed back, her lips still playing with his.

His fingers moved up the side of her breast, touching the lacy material reverently. Her nipple stood at attention, straining against the thin cotton of her bra almost painfully
,
but he still did
n’t’
touch it. Instead, he traced slow circles around her breast, working closer and closer to her nipple. She squirmed in his lap, hoping for something but not quite sure just what she wanted.

He lifted her shirt so he could see her bra and reached between her breasts to unhook the front closure. Uncovering her breast, he groaned at the
sight
of it. He began his lazy circles again. Lou released his lips and threw her head back, her breath coming in gasps.
Brody
watch
ed
her with veiled eyes as he came closer and closer to the small brown nub that stood so proudly. He bent his head and took her nipple into his mouth. She gasped and reached for his hair, holding his head with a strong grip. No longer able to keep her eyes open, she bit her bottom lip and concentrated on the sensations his touch was creating.

He gently flicked her nipple with his tongue,
and it grew
even harder in his mouth. He opened his lips, raising them a half inch from her skin, and took in a great gasp of air. This caused cool air to rush around her nipple and make it strain even harder toward his touch. He removed his mouth from her breast and replaced it with his hand, gently rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. He repeated his lazy circles on the other breast.

When his mouth finally closed over her, she moaned and grasped his hair tightly. She pulled him against her breast. At her urging, his cool seduction became more powerful. He bit gently against her nipple. She moved wildly in his lap.

He grabbed the back of her neck and lifted her head where it hung back in abandon. He devoured her mouth as though she was his last meal.

Just then, the porch lights came on above them, flooding them in brilliant
,
white light. The power was back on. Lou jumped as though she had been scalded and looked down. Her naked
,
white skin was in stark contrast against his dark hand that still cupped her full breast. Reality hit her. She frantically grabbed her shirttail and covered herself. She sat up stiffly in Brody’s lap, turning to move.

He gripped her tightly around the waist and said close to her ear, “Hold on. Be still a minute. It’s still just you and me, all alone.”

Her guilty conscience spoke
.
“I shouldn’t have behaved like that.”

“Like what? Like you enjoyed it? That’s crazy. I love the way you ‘behaved’,” he added with a hint of sarcasm, still holding her close to him, still talking softly.

“I don’t know how you get to me, but you do.” She kissed him gently on the lips and climbed out of his lap. She sat down awkwardly in the chair beside him and took his hand in hers. She held it gently as their breaths returned to normal. “I have never felt like this before.”

“Surely, Sarah’s father…”

She cut him off. “That was a completely different situation. You have so much more experience than I do.” She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and held her face in her hands. She waited the length of a few breaths. Then her eyes rose to meet his, tears threatening to spill over her lashes. “I am not a whore.”

He got up from his chair and knelt before her. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. “You think I don’t know that?”

A tear rolled across her cheek and he caught it with his thumb. He kissed her forehead and rose, pulling her to a standing position before him. He encircled her with his strong arms and squeezed her gently. He held the pose until once again she relaxed and sighed.

“Better?” he asked. She nodded against his shoulder. “Go to bed, Lou.” She turned and entered her room, closing the door firmly behind her and leaving him standing under the porch light all alone.

I have a daughter, for Christ’s sake
. Lou changed clothes and slipped beneath the covers. The cool sheets touched her skin, which still had goose bumps from her encounter with Brody. Every nerve ending stood on end as she remembered the way his hands had moved across her body.

He must think I am an immeasurable tease
, she thought as she lay on her back with one arm across her forehead, staring at the ceiling. A prick tease was what boys in high school had called her. Tonight, she had been the aggressor.

He might have asked me to dance
,
but then I’m the one who kissed him. And then I bit him on the lip
. Oh God! She would never be able to look him in the eye again.

Lou tossed and turned most of the night but never slept deeply enough for nightmares, thank goodness. She woke the next day feeling just as unsure of herself as she had the night before. She rose, dressed
,
and put on tennis shoes for her morning run. She brushed the snarls from her long, dark hair and put it in a ponytail. Today was Saturday so she wasn’t expected to make breakfast for the hands but still rose early. She poured a bowl of cereal for Sarah and kissed Sadie on the cheek as she went out the back door for her run.

She looked around for Brody as she stretched against the fence but didn’t see any sign he was even up yet. It was probably better. He might not ever want to see her again.

She checked her watch and started jogging slowly through the winding path she always used. She found a good rhythm and then picked up the pace. The sun felt good on her body and the exertion was always good for stress. She forgot time and place
,
and concentrated on her footfalls and her breathing. About ten minutes into her run, she rounded a corner and came up short as she spotted a man standing in her path. She slowed to a walk and shielded her eyes with her hand, trying to see if it was Brody who had somehow gotten ahead of her.

She walked a few steps closer and got a good glimpse of the man. It certainly wasn’t Brody. But who else would be out here? She walked a few steps in reverse but then the man called out.

“Why don’t you stay right where you are, Mary Lou?”

“Pardon me?” she asked, certain she had not heard him clearly.

“I said, I think you need to stay right there so we can have a talk,” the man said quietly. He took a few more steps forward and Lou caught the scent of cherry cigar on the breeze as he lifted it to his lips. The face looked vaguely familiar.

Ball cap. Five o’clock shadow. The temp who had helped to put up hay.
Wes
? Lou’s thoughts dashed in mad abandon like
p
ing
p
ong balls set loose inside her head. She tried to grab each one as it bounced around but ha
d
no luck. He had just called her by her given name.

“Do I know you?” she asked tentatively.

“No. But you know my boss. Or at least he knew your mother. He was real sorry to hear about her passing.” He took a draw on the cigar.

“What are you talking about?” Lou asked defensively.

He pulled an envelope out of his pocket and threw it at her. She caught it against her chest and opened it with shaky fingers. Photos fell out that Lou had never seen. They showed her mother, standing in front of their trailer. Her mother at work. Lou together with her mother, sitting at the kitchen table. Lou gasped as she looked through them all.

“Where did you get these?” she asked
, her voice hoarse with emotion
.

“We have sources,” he replied.

“What do you want?” she asked, putting the pictures back in the envelope.

“Your mother stole something from my boss. He thinks you have it and he wants it back. I’m here to collect.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I left with nothing the night my mother died,” Lou’s voice shook with the memory.

“ I know you’re lying. You left with one thing. He’s sure of it. You were seen with a black bag as you ran through the woods. This bag just happened to contain something that was precious to my boss. He wants i
t
back.”

Lou’s heart skipped a beat. She held out the pictures. “I can’t help you,” she stated.

“I think you can.” His face took on an even more menacing look. “I think you will.”

“Or what?” Lou asked.

“Or you
‘
ll be sorry.” He nodded his head toward the house. “And so will they.”