Love In a Small Town (28 page)

"There, there, now." He held her in his arms while the spasms subsided. "Once more, baby, then it's my turn."

Laying her down, he entered her slowly, rotating his hips so he stimulated her clit. She gasped, her passion mounting. Increasing his speed, he held her tightly while she shattered in his arms, only seconds after he had begun.

"David." She held on to him, kissing his throat; too undone for more words. As she calmed, she opened her eyes. "But you weren't, I mean you didn't…"

Hugging her fiercely, he said, "I love you, baby. Now it's my turn."

He rolled her onto her stomach, put his arms around her hips, and raised her to her knees. Probing with his stiffened member, he found her opening, lifted her up, and pulled her against him hard, thrusting into her in one stroke. He was large, but he knew she could take him all from this angle. Repeatedly he plunged, gaining speed as his ardor mounted, driving himself almost senseless with passion, until he erupted in a violent climax, shouting his relief. Greedily he held her to him, wanting her to receive all he had.

His mind cleared, his breathing slowed. Lynn was limp in his arms. Fear shot through him. Had he hurt her? Every time they were together, his release became more intense. For a moment, he had lost consciousness. Was it passion or insanity?

He turned Lynn over in his arms. "Lynn. Lynn, baby," he crooned.

She opened her eyes and smiled dreamily. "That was wonderful, David, but I have to sleep now." She closed her eyes and fell sound asleep.

David started to laugh, delighted with himself. Pulling a sheet over her, he kissed her softly and headed for the shower, leaving her to sleep off the exhaustion he had caused.

He was downstairs, in the kitchen, preparing to roast some eggplant, when Lynn joined him, showered and dressed in her shorts and t-shirt; her feet were bare. She came up behind him, put her arms around him, and asked, "Are you all right, baby? Did I hurt you?"

He shouted with laughter, turned, and kissed her soundly, appreciating her humor. She had worried him. "I'm the one who should ask that. Honey, if I ever hurt you, or offend you, tell me. I go crazy with you. I barely remember that last, except it being the most powerful climax I've ever experienced."

"You mean, I drove you insane, flat out of your mind with passion?" She winked and rubbed her cheek on his chest. "I wonder if our lovemaking will ever be the ordinary, quiet interlude kind?"

He had to laugh, but sobered instantly. "I mean it, sweetheart. You've had an ugly experience before with an out-of-control man. I don't want anything I do to bring back those memories."

It was her turn to smile. "David, my love, there is no way to compare that boy's pathetic attempts at sex with what you've given me. He's gone forever. On the other hand, I feel wonderful. I've had a very thorough and expert loving by the handsomest man in the county, possibly the state, or the entire country, for that matter. Maybe even the most gorgeous man on the planet."

He pretended consternation. "There's someone better looking than me on Mars?"

She laughed and looked at what he was doing. "What are you making?"

Sliding the halved eggplant into the countertop broiler, he closed the door and set the timer. "It's a dip for pita bread or chips, called Baba Ganoush. The roasted pulp gets mixed with garlic, oil, and sesame paste. You'll love it." Changing the subject he interjected, "We need to talk about the wedding. Sarah asked me today if we were all going to live here. It sounds good to me. What about you?"

"I love this house, David. Three bedrooms and three baths are good for a start."

"For a start?"

"The way we're going, we may need a nursery before long."

"I can hardly wait. Oh, the Kensington Hotel management wants to give us the bridal suite for the night. How about it?"

"I'd love it. I called Brenna at Partridge House Bed and Breakfast and she'd be delighted to perform the ceremony and have cake and ice cream after. Norm and Violet will be witnesses and I'm sure Sarah has told Logan, so we're set. All I have to do is talk Charlotte into the move."

"You think she'll go along with it? She's a pretty independent cat."

"She goes wherever her dish goes."

David took the eggplant out of the oven and scooped the pulp into a bowl. He added garlic, salt, parsley, and sesame paste, stirred it and put some on a cracker for her to taste.

"Um. This is good. Let's take it out on the porch. Get the blue corn chips and pita bread and I'll get us some iced tea."

He gathered up the food and shouldered open the screen door. "Hey," he called, "the kids are back."

Logan, Emily, Dakota, Karen, Anthony, and Sarah, who was struggling to hold something in her arms, piled out of the van. They waved to Emily's mom while she drove off.

Suspiciously, David eyed the wriggling mass of blonde fur Sarah barely managed to contain. "What the devil is that? Is that an animal?"

Lynn placed two glasses of iced tea on the table and, recognizing the bundle instantly, started to laugh. "That is a mostly Golden Retriever puppy about, I'd guess, twelve weeks old."

Sarah staggered onto the porch with her wriggling burden, followed by the rest of the crew. The puppy managed to get loose. Barking excitedly, it made the rounds of all the human legs, putting a set of ridiculously large forepaws on each pair.

"Sarah," David asked in what he hoped was a stern voice, because the puppy's clumsiness was making them all laugh, "what are you doing with that dog?"

"Daddy," she cried in a voice to rival any drama queen, "they were going to kill her. She needed a home, right away."

"Well, not right away," Dakota said, in the interest of fairness.

Anthony agreed. "Yeah, they keep them for a long time first."

"She was all alone," Sarah pleaded. "All her brothers and sisters were adopted and she was sitting there, so lonely, in this little cage, crying."

"I knew this would happen," Logan said, managing to sound resigned and worried at the same time. "She wasn't there five minutes when we had to talk her out of a litter of kittens."

"It happens to everyone the first time they work there," Karen said. "That's how we got our dog, only it was my dad who wanted him. He loves homeless animals."

All eyes turned to David, obviously measuring his capacity for compassion, against that of Karen's dad.

David looked at Lynn, waiting. "You could be some help here if you'd stop laughing."

"Hey, I'm not a family member for another two weeks. Count me out. Besides, the dog has eyes like yours. Melted chocolate."

The puppy ceased barking and looked at David with interest, as though she understood. Through some variant gene in her past she had acquired a sable brown mask, setting off her brown eyes beautifully. David begrudgingly admitted she was a cute little thing.
Melted chocolate?
He looked at Lynn. The smirk on her face indicated she was reading him like a book.

Determined, he made one more attempt. Turning to his daughter, and adopting his most parental tone he said, "Sarah, she has to be housebroken. You'll be at school all day."

"We could build a pen by the porch where she could stay when I'm not home. Iris is a very smart dog, Daddy."

"Iris?" he asked, sensing defeat.

"I named her Iris after the main ingredient in my perfume. Logan thought it was beautiful," she glanced at Logan, enlisting his aid.

Logan threw a cautious glance at David, dismay written all over his face, clearly expecting retribution, before he ventured, "Really, sir. I tried to talk her out of it."

David folded. "Oh, give it up, Logan. Talking Sarah out of anything is like talking the stripes off a zebra. It isn't going to happen."

"Gol, would you look at that?" The wonder in Dakota's voice made them all look where he was pointing, at the table. "That dog likes eggplant. Awesome."

David glowered at the dog. Iris was on the table, crouched on all fours, licking enthusiastically at the last of the Baba Ganoush in the bowl.

Lynn screamed with laughter, earning her another look from David, which only exacerbated her glee. "Oh, Oh, Lord," she gasped, "Where are you going to find another dog that likes eggplant? It's Karma. You two are soul mates. It was meant to happen."

"Well, hell." When he picked up the dog to get her off the table, she looked at him, her eyes shining with pure puppy love.

"I hope it doesn't give her diarrhea," Karen said, an ominous expression on her face. "Puppies have delicate stomachs."

Iris was a little sweetheart. David winced when her rough tongue swiped his nose and he couldn't stop himself from nuzzling the soft puppy fur behind her ears.

"Okay, let me get a credit card and we'll go to Walmart for dog supplies." He handed her to Sarah and went into the house, Lynn following him.

She put her arms around him, stopping his progress.

"What?" he said, turning to her.

"David Martin, if I weren't in love with you before, I would be now, after watching you with that puppy. You are a softie, and you're going to make a wonderful father for our children."

"As long as I have you with me," he said, kissing her. "Are you coming along to help get dog stuff? Never having owned a dog, I have no idea what they need—collars, leashes, food, dishes, and a bed, I suppose."

"No. She won't need a bed. She already has two. It's only a matter of which one."

"What do you mean?"

The warmth and understanding in her eyes made him forget dogs for a moment, until she said, "She's a little girl, a baby, who's never slept alone in her life. She's going to find her favorite human and cuddle up."

"No way am I sleeping with a dog. They have fleas or germs, or something."

"It's not so bad. I've slept with a cat for years."

"So when you and Charlotte move in, what happens?"

"We'll see. Charlotte's a pretty forceful female. I'll call you first thing in the morning and find out where Iris slept."

Laughter was in her voice as she said, "Come on, oh savior of distressed females, let's go shopping," and preceded him out the door where Iris, Logan, and Sarah waited in the back seat of her car.
We are going to need a bigger vehicle,
she thought happily,
maybe even a van
, if what she suspected was true.

When they returned, two hours later, there was a message on the answering machine: Judge Arthur would like to see Sarah Graham and her father, David Martin, in his chambers at ten-thirty on Thursday morning.

"My third year doing this show and it's every bit exciting as the first," Lynn exclaimed, greeting a new volunteer in the lobby of the Kensington Hotel on Wednesday afternoon with a smile. She hung a badge around the neck of the young woman whose arms were full of tablecloths. "Ask for Betty on the second floor. Those are for skirting the tables."

Around her, volunteers rushed back and forth to the elevator, carrying clothes and sale merchandise to the second floor, setting up for tonight's rehearsal.

The hotel management had loaned their staff to help set up chairs and tables in the ballroom, the ramp and walkway had been assembled and carpeted, tables skirted, and sale merchandise set up.

Models' outfits were sorted and tagged. Her crew worked on finishing the preparations. Sarah would be in charge of her models, locating their clothes and arranging them on a rack for easy access.

"Hey, Lynn! Here we are!" Lynn heard Sarah calling as she entered the lobby with Dakota and Emily, Logan following. Dakota carried a large manila envelope, which he opened to pull out an eight by ten color photograph for all to see.

"Look what we have, Miss Keith. Cool, huh?" A teenage boy and girl, dressed as Romeo and Juliet gazed at each other longingly while Romeo offered Juliet a red rose. The words 'Shakespeare's Flowers Eau de Cologne' were printed across the front.

"The perfume poster," Lynn said. "Oh, Dakota, it's wonderful. So romantic. How on earth did you get this photograph, and whose idea was it?"

Logan examined it closely. "Is that Jim Holder and his girlfriend Audrey? No way."

"Way." Emily's expression showed her triumph.

"It was Emily's idea," Dakota said, pride in his voice as he winked at Emily.

Their creativity left Lynn in awe. "How did you get Jim to wear those clothes, or to pose with that lovelorn look on his face?"

"Jim's girlfriend," Dakota said, as though that explained it.

Sarah sighed. "Dakota, you're no help at all. This is the first time I've seen this. How did you do it, Emily? Jim couldn't have been happy about this. It makes him look really silly."

"I heard the high school drama club was going to do Romeo and Juliet second quarter, and I asked the teacher if we could use the costumes for the picture."

"That doesn't explain Jim's involvement."

"I figured he and Audrey would be good because they're tight and they have a lot of friends who will come to the fashion show. I asked her to pose with him and, since she was already cheesed because she wasn't asked to be part of the show, this, at least, was something. There was no way Jim could say 'no' and live through it."