ROMANCING THE BULLDOG (11 page)

“I told you about that. It’s Jason.”

“Jason, I can’t just keep your car.”

“And why the hell not?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

Liz exhaled, exasperated. “Because you don’t know me like that.”

“Thus this dinner date. I want to get to know you.”

Jason said those last words in such a sensual tone that Liz couldn’t find the will to complain

any further. Besides, a man says keep his Aston Martin, especially when you don’t have

access to wheels of your own, was hard to turn down.

The same waitress who had given Jason his drink order, arrived with Liz’s. She sat glass in

front of Liz, checked her out, Liz noticed, and then turned her attention to the mayor.

“Ready to order, sir?” she asked him with a grand smile on her face.

“Ready to order, Elizabeth?” he asked Liz.

Liz had only just picked up the menu, but she didn’t really care what was ordered. “I’ll

have what you have,” she told him.

“Your usual?” the waitress asked him.

“There ya’ go,” he said, and the waitress left. Jason leaned forward. “Okay, now, what’s

the deal? Tell me all you can about yourself. Other than what I already know.”

Liz smiled. “What you already know? You don’t know a thing about me, except that my

father is Hamilton Morgan.”

“And you’re a youth center director and have a gorgeous face and has the best tight ass I’ve

ever seen in my life.”

“Jason!” Liz said and quickly looked around to make sure no-one heard him. “You can’t

say things like that,” she said in a whispered tone.

Jason looked perplexed. “And why not? It’s the truth. So go on, what’s the story behind

Liz Morgan?”

“Nothing really. You’ve already touched on the main points.”

Jason smiled. “What, that you’re gorgeous and have a tight--”

“Jason!” Liz didn’t bother to look around again this time, but she did smile and shake her

head. “You’re incorrigible.”

“Why didn’t you make it to Harvard?”

Liz hesitated. The weight of her decisions were still raw, still having their affect. “I didn’t

want to go to Harvard. I never wanted to go. That was Dad’s ego trip, not mine. And after

that night . . . with you, I felt emboldened.”

This impressed Jason. “No, really? Emboldened how?”

Liz smiled weakly. “I felt that if I could affect somebody like you, like Bulldog Rascone, to

where you could bend to my will in bed like that, then surely I was woman enough to stand up

to my father.”

Jason laughed, although he also knew that what she said wasn’t that far off base. “Bend to

your
will?”

“It sounds silly now, but it’s how I felt at the time. It didn’t last long, my actions proved

that, but that’s how I felt. So the first guy who came along with something more to my liking,

I took it. Unfortunately for my father, that guy came along within hours of my arrival on

campus. And I know it was a poor decision, I know it. I was young and dumb and made a lot

of poor decisions back then, nobody can beat me up about it more than I already have beaten

up myself.” She paused, as the raw emotion of her past actions begin to rise. “Anyway,” she

went on, “I ended up in Philly.”

“Where you met Mr. Right?”

“More like Mr. Wrong, but yeah, I met him. Married him even. And we were happy for

a

little while there.”

“But?”

“But it didn’t work out. That’s all.” It was still a sore subject with Liz, Jason could

easily

see that, so he left it alone, too.

“Well, my story, if you care to know about it, is just like yours.”

“Like mine? From big time lawyer to big time mayor? How in the world is that like mine?”

“Because neither profession was probably the best way for me to go, either, but I went

anyway.”

“You never wanted to be a politician?”

“I wouldn’t say that. I wanted it, but I just didn’t want it to turn out the way it had.”

Liz smiled. “You mean you don’t like being Mr. Conservative?”

“Can you imagine? But that’s what I’ve become. Mr. Conservative. From Bulldog to Mr.

Conservative. It’s like sleeping with the enemy. But what can I do? I’m in too deep now.”

This caused Liz to nod, to think about her ex when she discovered the truth about his drug

dealing but had become so blind in their relationship, so entrenched, that it took her a long time

to believe what was probably obvious all along. “Yeah,” she finally said. “Know what you

mean.”

“So, you see, you and I aren’t that dissimilar after all. We’re both foxy as hell,” he said and

then held up his hand for Liz to slap it, “come on, girl, you know it’s true!”

Liz laughed.

“What? You don’t think I’m foxy?”

Liz slapped his hand, and couldn’t stop laughing. “What kind of mayor are you? You’re

Mr. Conservative!”

“Only to people who don’t know me, my dear.”

“And who are you to people who do know you?” Liz wanted to know.

Jason grinned. “Bulldog Rascone!” he said with flair, and Liz found herself laughing again.

***

had just returned with the car and was attempting to hand the keys to Liz, who wasn’t

accepting them.

“Look, Jason, I appreciate your help. But you can drop me home and keep your car. The

valet then turned to Jason. “Your keys, sir.”

“They belong to the lady,” Jason replied, and then turned to Liz. “Until your car is ready,

you keep it.”

“The keys, ma’am,” the now impatient valet said to Liz, attempting to hand her the keys

once again.

“But how are you going to get around?” Liz wanted to know.

Jason smiled. “Don’t you worry about me.”

“And don’t you worry about me,” Liz said.

“I’m not letting you get around without wheels, Liz, now that’s a fact.”

“You aren’t letting me?”

“You heard me.”

“Sir?” the valet pleaded and Jason finally took the keys. The grateful valet hurried away

from them.

“Funny,” Liz said, “my father looks nothing like you.”

Jason snorted. “Tonight he looks just like me,” he said and unlocked the driver side door.

“Now get in.”

Diners entering and leaving the restaurant began to notice them, which Liz knew couldn’t

be good for Jason. She therefore shook her head and began getting into the driver’s seat.

“You
are
a bulldog, anybody ever tell you that?”

“Many people. But none as sexily as you just told me.”

Liz rolled her eyes as he closed the door and headed for the passenger side of his own car.

But as soon as he was unable to see her, she smiled.

***

graveled path backed by a large, private lake. It was dark and secluded and absolutely nothing

at all like the kind of home Liz thought a showboat like Bulldog Rascone would own. She

expected big, brash, ultra-expensive. Not small, quaint, and peaceful. Extremely peaceful, she

thought, as she stopped in front of the old-fashioned porch.

“Come on in,” Jason said, unbuttoning his seatbelt, “I want to show you around.”

Ordinarily Liz would have told Jason thanks, but no thanks, and went on about her

business. But she actually had enjoyed herself tonight and, to her own shock, wasn’t quite

ready for it to end, either. She got out, attempted again to give him his keys – was rebuffed

again, and followed him into a home that she found beautiful, not by its extravagance, but by

its understatement.

There were no stand-out pieces, just tasteful art, and the kind of big, sturdy, traditional

furniture you’d find in your regular cookie-cutter suburban home, or some cabin somewhere:

early English, Herculean, pastel-colored, with leather (or was it vinyl?) trim.

Jason, however, flipped the light switch and smiled greatly, as if ordinary was the last thing

he’d call his home. “Well, what do you think?” he asked her.

Liz couldn’t help but smile. “It’s so not you,” she replied.

“So not me, or your image of me?”

Liz looked at him. It was the second time he had made clear that she was not to believe

what she read in the papers. He wasn’t who everybody thought he was.

“Actually, you’re right,” Jason added, looking around himself. “This is definitely not in

keeping with my public image. That’s why I bought it. But let me show you the rest.”

He took Liz by the hand, which caused her to feel oddly comfortable, and showed her a

galley-style kitchen that was so small that both of them couldn’t stand in it at the same time;

two boxy-type bedrooms just big enough for a bed and maybe a dresser; and then the master

suite. As soon as Liz entered the suite, she got it. Now she understood what all the fuss was

about.

“Ah,” she said as soon as followed him in and saw the view from the floor to ceiling

windows in a bedroom built, unlike the previous two, in the round. The view, of a lovely,

quiet lake surrounded by beautiful, wind-tossed trees, was serenity personified. “It’s

enchanting,” Liz found herself saying.

“Yes,” said Jason, as he enjoyed the view, too. When his eyes trailed from the window to

his bed, and he could imagine Liz naked in that bed, he abruptly took her by the hand again.

“Come,” he said, nearly dragging her along with his swiftness, “I want you to experience the

view.”

And she did, as Jason flew open the French doors and they walked out onto the wide

deck. Although the crickets clogged up the night sounds, and the night owls lifted their voices,

too, the peace was palpable. It felt like a drug to Liz. Like an easy addiction. She had to

smile. She had to hand it to Bulldog.

“This is awesome,” she said, nodding.

Jason grinned. “No, is it really?” he asked like a kid, as if he was pleased by her

confirmation.

“Yes, of course. I see it now. Completely.”

She was the only woman who had been in his home who did. The few others were turned

off as soon as they saw the front of the house, with one even commenting that she had

expected a mansion, not this “shack” of a place. But Liz got it immediately, as Jason

somehow knew she would.

They stood there, still holding hands, listening to the sounds of the night as if they were

hearing a symphony. Jason looked at Liz. Her face was enraptured.

“You like it then?” he asked softly. It was a redundant question, but he felt a need to ask

it.

“I love it,” Liz felt a need to say, tears building in her eyes. “I’ve never seen anything

more beautiful.”

Jason looked at her, at her tear-stained eyes, and he pulled her into his arms. Liz, moved

too, return his embrace. And there they stood, for the longest, holding tightly onto the other.

Until Jason moved slightly back and looked at her face, her eyes, her mouth. And then he

kissed her. She allowed it, which made him hungrier. He moved her closer, and kissed her

harder. Soon, there was no daylight between them at all. And he wasn’t about to stop there.

“Oh, Liz,” he said as he kissed her cheeks, her chin, as he nuzzled her ear. “I’ve got to

have you.”

“Jason, we can’t,” Liz replied, as her arms encircled his neck tighter, as she slowly began

to falter.

“Don’t say that,” he said, refusing to make it easy for her. “We can. You know we can.

Please say it, Liz. Please say yes.”

He was begging her now, as he backed her against the door, his loins screaming in agony

for a release, to release inside of her. Only her. Nobody but her. He had to have her!

“Please,” he pleaded again.

“Oh, Jason!” Liz cried and as soon as she did he smothered her mouth with his own. And

that did it for him. He lifted her and carried her to his bed. He began undressing her with one

hand, and himself with the other. But it was taking too long. She helped, undressing him, until

they both were made bare.

He laid on top of her, still kissing her as if she was the breath he breathe. When he was

about to enter her, she stopped him.

“A condom, Jason,” she said.

“For everybody else, yes, I always wear a condom. But not for you.”

Liz stared at him, at the sincerity, the passion, the pure lust in his eyes, and she knew there

was no turning back. She released his arm.

And then he entered her. She felt his massiveness as he entered, and her back immediately

arched. It felt like a heroin high, a meth high, how a crack cocaine high had to feel. She kept

lifting her small body against his massive one as the weight of him, the wildness of him, spilled

inside of her. She squirmed in pleasure as he pounded her, as he kept screaming her name,

and they both lifted up in a full body caress, and then collapsed in a release that caused both of

them to shutter.