Til There Was U

by Dianne Castell

  “Just tell Conrad you’ve heard about his financial situation by way of the grapevine and you want him to tell Thelma about it because it would be better that way. Tell him you’re looking out for her. That way Conrad will know we’re on to him, and he’ll think twice before hurting Thelma. But if he and Thelma do get serious and wind up together, we haven’t alienated him altogether. Kind of the best of all worlds, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe for you.” Ryan set his beer on the bar with a solid thud and glared. “But if Thelma gets wind of me doing this, she’ll string me up by the very sensitive parts of my anatomy for interfering in her life. You’ve never been on the receiving end of rampage-by-Thelma. It ain’t pretty, and I don’t want any part of it. Not just because of the life-threatening consequences, but because, like I keep saying, we’re butting in someone else’s life. Doesn’t this bother you a little?”

  Sally shrugged. “What do you suggest? We stand around looking at each other while Thelma gets her heart stomped flat by a user? Friends don’t let friends date assholes. You should have seen them coochie-cooing tonight. I tried everything to keep them here longer, but nothing worked. Good thing you two didn’t get caught.”

  Ryan grinned at Effie. “Well, it was close.”

  She glared back, and Sally pointed at Ryan. “Don’t try and change the subject. We’re not that easily put off. Promise us you’ll talk to Conrad or at least warn Thelma to go slow.”

  A voice from behind Effie said, “You causing problems, again, Sally girl?”

  Ryan and Effie turned around as Sally looked in that direction, her eyes rounding by half. “Oh, Demar, you big gorgeous hunk of man!” Her face glowed. “Ryan, Effie, this is Demar Thacker, my very handsome man from Nashville who doesn’t get here nearly often enough to be suiting me.”

  Demar grinned and cocked his head, the look of a man in charge, confident... a little too confident. He shook hands with Effie, then Ryan, and said, “So, you’re the new daddy in town all the way from San Diego. Heard you got yourself one mighty cute baby. How’d she wind up here without you?”

  Ryan said, “The mama didn’t see me as prize parent material and herself no better. My dad, on the other hand, loves being a grandpa, and he’s damn good at it. Heard you’re building new houses and breathing some life into this river town.”

  Demar leaned against the bar and picked up Sally’s hand and kissed the back. “Among other things.”

  Sally blushed. Still looking at Demar, she said, “Daddy’s got that forty acres right behind here he’s never done anything with except let the dogs run. Demar’s developing it. Kind of a partnership between him and Daddy, and it’ll give people work around here and bring in new folks and their money.”

  Effie asked, “You’re an architect?”

  “Contractor.” Demar looked from Effie to Ryan, his eyes a bit less friendly. “How long you both going to be here? Taking Bonnie back with you, I suppose?”

  Prickles of unease danced up Effie’s spine, and Ryan said, “Plans are up in the air right now.”

  He slid from his stool. “Sorry to cut this short, but I better get back and relieve Dad from grandpa duty.” He nodded at Demar. “See you around, I’m sure. You and Sally have a good night.”

  Ryan pushed the door open and headed for his parked car as Effie caught up with him. “You don’t like Mr. Demar Thacker any better than I do. Now we’ve got ourselves two to save and don’t try and deny it. I saw that look in your eyes when he was making over Sally.”

  “Hell. Maybe I’m having a knee-jerk reaction to him being a contractor. They’re the ones who screw up our plans, put windows where doors belong, put airshafts across open atriums and forget to put in rest rooms and stairways. Maybe we’re jaded and Demar’s a great guy.”

  “Maybe Max will learn to fly.”

  He looked at her, paused, kicked a rock so it skimmed across another and swore. “Least you don’t need saving.” His eyes met hers, and his face relaxed. He slid his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. An easy grin fell across his face. “Except maybe from me.”

  “When we get back to San Diego everything’s going to be just like before.”

  “But we’re here now, Ef, and can take advantage of it. A little fooling around can’t hurt.”

  Then why did she feel hurt? Especially since they’d left the woods. Because she was getting attached to him, that’s why. Dammit all, she liked him. And soon it would all be over.

  Well, if that was the case, there’d be no more fooling around. No more getting in deeper than she already was. No more Ryan sex. From here on out it was Sister Mary Effie. She headed for her car. “We have a mall to work on. See you back at the house. Sharpen your pencils, it’s going to be a long night.”

  She could feel his eyes on her. “And from the sounds of it, not the kind of long night I’d like to have. What’s wrong now? Are you okay?”

  What could she say? I’m a stupid fool for falling for you and knowing it’s never going to last? Why go there and create problems that would follow them to San Diego. They already had enough problems. “I’m flipping terrific. Everything’s flipping fine. In fact, if I was any happier I’d be twins!”

  ———

  Noonday sun blazed overhead as Thelma placed another brick in the sand along the grid Conrad had strung out over the patio to keep the pattern even. Sweat slithered down her back into the waistband of her jeans. At least she worked in the shade. Conrad had worked in the blazing sun for the last three hours. She yelled over to him. “Am I doing this right? Think it’s straight?”

  He glanced up and grinned. “Looks great.”

  But he didn’t look so great. Face too red, breathing too labored. She got up off her knees, dusted dirt from her pants and walked over to him. Though truth be told it was more a limp mixed with a hobble from crawling around on the ground and bending over.

  She kissed him on the head as he studied the section of freshly laid bricks. She touched his sweat-soaked hair. “Time for a break, dear.”

  He shook his head. “I want to finish this section and see how it looks all together.”

  She sat down right in front of him, stopping his progress. “This work will be here later, and I want you to be here later, too. I don’t want to use the rest of these bricks to build your tombstone. We need a break, Conrad, especially you working so hard in this heat. You get so involved in your work you forget to take care of yourself.” She stroked his cheek. “I suppose that’ll have to be my job.”

  She took his hands and pulled off the gloves and dropped them to the ground. “Let’s eat lunch. We’ve got all summer to finish this patio. We can do it after the sun swings to the front of the house and the backyard falls into the shadows.”

  He picked up another brick. “Thought you wanted this done so we could enjoy it.”

  She took the brick and put it back on the ground. “I’d much rather enjoy you. I don’t want you hurt or anything to happen to you.”

  “But—”

  “What I’m trying to say, Conrad, is ... is I love you.” She smiled and suddenly laughed, the words surprising her as much as Conrad. “I know this is a strange time to tell you that, and I hadn’t planned on saying it right now, but I’m so glad I did. I never told a man I loved him before. But it’s true. I love you to pieces, with all my heart.”

  Conrad’s mouth opened to say something, but she put her forefinger across his lips. “Let me finish. I want to get this out while I still have the nerve. I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re just wonderful to me. The sun and moon and stars all rolled into one. I’ve waited all my life for you.”

  He blinked as if he didn’t understand her. “You think I’m wonderful?”

  She wagged her head. “I don’t think so, I know it. I’m not a young chippie. I know people, and you are the kindest, gentlest, most thoughtful man I’ve ever met.” She threw her arms around him, knocking them both backward, her landing on top of him.

  “An
d,” she added in a fit of giggles, “you’re handsome. Oh, lordy, are you handsome! Should be a law against someone being so handsome.”

  “Honey, my hair’s thinning on top, and I’m getting a little thick around the middle. I’m not all that handsome. I think the heat’s got you.”

  “Nope, you’re the one who’s got me.” She kissed him again. “You have incredible eyes, and I love your laugh and your smile. I love you. I love being with you. You make me so happy, Conrad. You make me feel good about me. In fact, you make me feel like a kid, like I can do anything when I’m with you.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, drawing her closer. “I... I love you, too, Thelma.” He grinned, his brown eyes dancing now. “I’ve never met anyone like you either.” He laughed. “No woman—or man for that matter—ever laid patio bricks with me. Hell, I’ve never laid patio bricks, and incredible as it seems, I like it. I like fixing up this house, least with you here I do. I don’t think anyone loves this place as much as I do . .. except you.”

  “Hastings House is fabulous. I’ve thought so since your father gave me one of his cookies.” She grinned. “He was a wonderful man, Conrad. You were so lucky to have him as a father. I’m not rich or from a prominent Southern family or have ties to the business world like the other women you’ve gone with, but you should know that no one could love you or appreciate you more than I do.” She kissed his forehead. “You give me Good Vibrations.”

  He laughed, and she added, “And not just in bed or in the shower.”

  She sat beside him and placed her hand over his penis, feeling it harden under her palm. Conrad said in a low growl, “What are you doing to me, girl?”

  Her breath caught, and her sex started a slow pulsing between her legs in anticipation of what she wanted more than anything at the moment. “If we weren’t so hot and sweaty, I’d beg you to take me here and now.”

  “That can be arranged.” He sat up, and his lips claimed hers in a hard kiss. “Race you to the shower?”

  “And the winner gets to do anything to the other that they want?”

  “Oh, honey, you are so on. I think lunch will have to wait ‘til it’s dinnertime.”

  “Good thing I brought a change of clothes.”

  His finger ran down her neck, stopping at her cleavage at the Vee in her T-shirt. “You won’t be needing clothes for what I’ve got planned.”

  She stuck her lower lip out in a coquettish pout. “But I just bought a new red feather boa and matching garter belt and black fishnet hose, Conrad.” She batted her eyes. “If you win, I just might let you take them off any way you like.”

  She batted her eyes again, and Conrad jumped up and tore for.the house. She laughed, This was one race she intended to lose. She got up, headed for the house and opened the door. Conrad’s shirt lay on the floor, his shoes in the hallway, his jeans on the steps. A man in a hurry . .. for her. Lord Almighty! Just for her!

  She smiled as she picked up the clothes and headed for his bedroom. The shower was running full blast. “Oh, Thelma,” he sang out, her name echoing off the tile. “I’m waiting for you. I’m ready for you.”

  She dropped his clothes on the floor, then nearly ripped off her own and tossed them onto the pile. She opened the door to the shower stall, steam spilling out around her, and leaned against the frame, taking in Conrad’s fully aroused state.

  He winked. “Why don’t you come here and let me give you a proper big old Southern-boy welcome.”

  Droplets of water cascaded over him, slicking his hair to his head and running down his middle and around and over his fully aroused penis. “My oh my, you sure are ready, but I think you need a little lathering up?”

  “Sugar, if I get any more lathered up, I’m a cooked goose.” He snagged her hand and brought her in, closing the door behind her. She kissed him, backing him to the wall, his erection pressing into her belly, setting her on fire head to toe. She found the soap on the rack and made a lather of slippery suds while Frenching him deep and often. And when she took the suds to his throbbing erection he let out a long hiss between clenched teeth.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m doing you.” She rubbed his slippery length, his shaft gliding through her fingers.

  “You’re killing me, girl.”

  “You better not die on me. I want you.” She let go of him, the fine warm spray rinsing the lather from his dick. She flattened herself against the far wall and hiked her left foot onto the little bench. She crooked her finger in a come-here fashion. “I think I’m ready for that promised Southern welcome now, Conrad.”

  In a split second his hard shaft slipped into her. “God, we fit good,” Conrad breathed onto her lips. Then he kissed her, his tongue imitating his actions below. She spread her legs wider, and he took her harder and deeper with each stroke ‘til she thrust against him once, then again, bringing them to climax. She called his name, the sound of her voice mixing with Conrad’s.

  He sagged against her, pinning her to the wall, his head cradled on her shoulder as hers rested against his. “Holy shit, woman. I didn’t think I had it in me to do it like ... that.” He kissed her neck, taking her skin into his mouth, undoubtedly giving her a hicky, a brand. “You really do bring the beast out in me, Thelma.”

  She kissed the droplets off his chin. “Maybe we should hang around here and see if there’s any beast left?”

  “Honey, I think the beast is dead, least for a bit. I have an appointment with my attorney this afternoon.” He drew his lips together and frowned.

  She chucked him under the chin. “What’s wrong? You don’t like being with your attorney?”

  “Oh, girl, not half as much as I like being with you.”

  And Conrad knew in his heart it was the absolute truth. He liked being with Thelma more than Arthur, more than his friends at the country club or the ones in Memphis or any woman he’d ever met. And not just because of the incredible sex. He listened to Thelma’s laughter fill the shower. She had a great laugh, the kind that made him laugh, too. She said, “Bet that beast will be raring to go later on tonight.”

  “It’s a date. But I better get going or Arthur will come looking for me, and then we’ll have three in here. I don’t want to share you with anyone.”

  She opened the shower door. “See you tonight, big boy.” Her eyes danced.

  “Well, it isn’t so big now, but give me a little time and maybe—”

  She eyed his dick. “I don’t think you need any time at all, Conrad Hastings. I’ll bring raspberries tonight. Playing hide-and-seek with them could be real interesting. That’ll give you something to think about while you’re with Arthur and make you hurry right back to me.” She stepped out of the shower and closed the door.

  He looked down. Well, dang! He was ready for her again. He never recouped this fast.. . ‘til now. The raspberries suggestion did it. Dang! Did he have to wait ‘til tonight? He could already taste her nipples, her navel, her sweet sex. He went into the bedroom and watched as she slipped into her bra and T-shirt.

  “Conrad, you’re dripping water on the hardwood. You’ll ruin the finish.”

  “I... I really love you, Thelma.”

  “All the sweet-talk in the world isn’t going to get me in bed, Conrad. You have an appointment about your business, and that’s important.”

  “I’m a fast driver.”

  She stopped dressing, and her eyes lit with fire as she stared at him. She put her hands to her shapely hips that fit so well against his. “How exactly do you mean that driver part?”

  He nodded at the bed. “Let me show you. Showing’s always better than telling.”

  “Blast you, Conrad. One little look and a few flattering words and you got me and you know it.” She yanked off her T-shirt and bra, naked and ready. “I think you could talk me into anything, you bad boy.”

  She laughed and scrambled into the bed as he followed. His dick slid into her fast, hot and hard as a roaring sound filled his ears, and he climaxed w
ith the intensity he hadn’t felt in years.

  “Conrad.” She breathed his name in a long exhale. “How can you keep doing this to me?”

  “It’s us, and I think we do it to each other. If I don’t get going, that us could include Arthur.”

  He stood and looked down at her, loving the tousled look of Thelma’s hair and the lingering pink glow on her cheeks. “I want to stay, you know.”

  “Me, too.”

  He threw on his clothes, only taking time to steal a few more kisses before he left the house and headed for Hastings Dry-dock. He turned off the two-lane and followed the gravel down to the river’s edge and parked next to Arthur’s Volvo, the only other car in the lot.

  Conrad remembered when his daddy had added parking spaces to accommodate all the workers, and built new dock spaces, and bought new machinery for the extra business. But not now, not with him in charge.

  “ ‘Bout time you showed up,” Arthur grumbled as he got out of his car.

  Conrad looked at the scarred building that served as the office. “Isn’t the place open; it’s the middle of the day? Where are my office managers?”

  “Probably still off in Vegas with the rest of the fucking loser friends you hired, running you further into debt. How the hell could you be so bad at business when your daddy was so good.” Arthur took his perfectly folded handkerchief from his back pocket and blotted perspiration from his forehead. “Where the hell were you?”

  “With Thelma.”

  His eyes brightened, and his mouth turned up at the left corner. “Plucking the pigeon? You are the man with the ladies, Conrad. So, how soon before you get that dowdy bitch to the altar?”

  Conrad’s gut tightened in anger. He thought of Thelma working hard on the patio beside him. He thought of her all warm and loving and giving as they made love and how she trusted him ... how she loved him. Dowdy bitch? His gut tightened more. “I.. . I’m not sure.”

  Arthur’s lips thinned into a hard line, and his brows drew together. “Well, you damn well better get sure and do it fast. You’ve got to marry her and get your finances together before those signature experts get done. You’re running out of time here, in case you didn’t notice.” He nodded at the Ferrari. “You haven’t even sold your goddamn car.”