by SUE FINEMAN
“I’m not asking for a happily-ever-after, Andy. All I want is one night with you. One night of magic.”
“That’s a promise I can make.” He’d give her a night of magic, a night neither of them would ever forget.
Julie hooked her leg around his waist and he lifted her and buried his throbbing erection inside her tight body. She gasped his name and clenched around him, holding him inside her. He gently lowered her to the narrow bench along the back wall of the shower and pushed in deeper and harder over and over again until tears ran from her eyes and he spilled his seed inside her.
It was the first time he’d ever made love without a condom, the first time he’d let passion rule over safety. The first time he’d let a woman seduce him in the shower.
He’d never liked aggressive women, never liked it when a woman tried to seduce him, but this time was different.
This time it felt right.
This was the wrong time to get involved with a woman, especially a woman having trouble with another man, but he couldn’t help himself. The loving way she touched him, the sexy whispers in his ear, the feel of her silky skin made him want more.
He’d gladly give her more.
Julie let the warm water of the shower wash away her tears of passion. She still lay on the bench in the shower with the warm water flowing over her, and Andy knelt on the floor, his hands and mouth on her breasts. He rubbed his whiskers lightly over her nipples, exciting her all over again. They were doing it backwards, having the foreplay last. Or maybe he intended to make love to her again.
His rough hands caressed her body while his mouth… Andy’s mouth should be declared illegal, because she’d never been kissed the way he kissed her. She could overlook his prickly whiskers as long as he didn’t stop kissing her.
“Honey, I forgot the—”
“I don’t care, Andy. Love me.” It was too late to worry about condoms now. Too late for caution.
He stood and pulled her to her feet. “Julie, honey, this is the best shower I’ve ever taken.”
She nipped his shoulder. “Me, too.”
Between kisses, he shampooed her hair and washed her body, his hands sliding over her hot skin as if she were precious to him. She closed her eyes and savored his touch, her body tingling on the outside and aching for more on the inside.
By the time they finished showering, his erection was long and thick and hard again, and all that moisture between her legs wasn’t from the shower. Andy’s shoulders and arms were thick with muscles, his waist and hips narrow. She traced the path of the hair on his chest straight down to where it widened, nesting the biggest penis she’d ever seen. Rubbing her finger over the cleft at the end, a drop of moisture came out. She brought her finger to her mouth and sucked it off. “Mmm, nice, but I like it better when it’s inside—”
“Stop! Unless you want to do it on the bathroom floor, we need to dry off first.” He wrapped a towel around himself and took another one out of the cabinet and started drying her hair and body.
She grabbed the hair dryer, turned it on, and pointed it down. “I’m wet down there, too.”
He grinned. “We’ll take care of that in a minute.”
Leaning in to him, she whispered, “Promise?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said, kissing her neck. “Most definitely. We’re just getting started.”
Chapter Ten
Andy woke with Julie’s warm, naked body tucked up against him. He smiled and kissed her forehead. She wasn’t the first woman he’d slept with, but she was the first one he’d slept with all night. The only woman he’d ever wanted to wake up with in the morning.
The alarm clock buzzed beside the bed, and she rolled over. After slapping the sleep button on the clock, he wrapped himself around her soft, sweet body. They’d made love twice before they slept last night, and he wanted her again this morning.
Reaching behind him, he pulled a condom off the nightstand, tore it open with his teeth, and rolled it on. And then he lifted her leg and rubbed his throbbing erection against her hot opening. She moaned and leaned back into him, and an instant later, he pushed inside her. It was a tighter fit this way, more erotic in some ways, with her sweet ass pushed against his stomach. She squirmed and met each thrust with one of her own, until they came together in an explosive climax.
He kissed her shoulder and rubbed his palm over her breasts before pulling out. “If we keep this up, I’ll run out of condoms.”
“I’m sure Charlie has an adequate supply,” she muttered. “He probably buys them by the gross.”
He glanced at the window. Still dark outside. It would be another long day on the farm. Another day of harvesting corn. Another day of visions of Andrew’s sad life. And another night of passion with Julie.
He made coffee while Julie dressed, and after drinking a cup, they left for the farm.
“Are we still stopping at my apartment?” she asked as soon as she strapped her seatbelt.
“Sure. Looks like it’ll be another hot day.”
“I know.” She sighed. “I hate having to hide out like a criminal.”
“What else can you do?”
“I could buy a gun. My grandfather taught me how to shoot, but I’d need to practice.”
“You’d shoot Brent?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Minutes later, Julie walked into her apartment and flipped on the light. She grabbed Andy’s arm.
“What’s wrong?”
“Someone has been in here.”
He groaned. “Not again.”
“He took my grandparents’ pictures off the desk.” She pulled the drawer open, and then another drawer, and another. “And he cleaned out my desk. Why would he do that?”
“Don’t touch anything else.” Andy pulled out his cell phone and called 911, then he called his parents’ house. Trevor answered.
“Trevor, I’m glad I caught you. I’ll be late this morning. Brent broke into Julie’s apartment again. I’m waiting for the police to get here.”
“Okay.”
“Stop somewhere and get breakfast for you and Charlie, and take something out to Otis. He’ll eat nearly anything.” So would Charlie.
Julie wandered around her apartment, hands in her pockets, looking for things she’d left behind when she went to stay with Andy. Her bed was wrinkled, so he’d been in the bedroom. Her shampoo was missing from the bathroom, her jewelry box wasn’t on her dresser, and all the family pictures she had sitting around were gone. Why would he take those things? They weren’t worth anything to anyone but her.
Using the toe of her shoe, she pushed the closet door open and gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Andy asked.
“My clothes are gone. Why would he take my clothes?” She pointed to the coffee table in the living room. “My grandmother’s photo album was on the coffee table.” Threading both hands into her hair, she asked, “Why would he do this to me?”
The police came in through the open apartment door. “You reported some trouble here?” the officer said.
“Brent Bosch has been here again. I don’t know how he got in this time, but he took my clothes and all the things that mean anything to me—my jewelry, family pictures, all my personal papers.”
The sun peeked over the horizon and tendrils of golden light streaked through the open door. Under other circumstances, she’d think it was pretty. Not today. Red hot anger filled Julie’s chest and spilled out through her mouth. “If you don’t arrest him this time, I’m going to buy a gun and take care of the problem myself. I can’t live like this anymore.”
“Where would he have taken these things?”
“Ask my mother. She talks to him more than I do.”
The officer pulled out his little notebook. “Her name?”
Julie gave the officer all the information. “If you want to speak with my father, you’d better do it before he tees off this morning.” Mom would be livid to have the police in her house, especially at this hour of
the morning, but Julie didn’t care. Mom was the one who insisted on talking with Brent, who believed everything he told her. She actually expected Julie to marry the jerk.
The officer with the fingerprint kit shook his head. “Everything has been wiped clean.”
Wiped clean was a relative term, thought Julie. Clean as in no prints, but filthy with black powder the police had put on every surface Brent might have touched. She’d have to scrub it all off before she moved out or she wouldn’t get her cleaning deposit back.
The landlord tapped on the open door. “Everything all right here, Julie?”
“No. Someone stole my clothes.” As the words left her mouth, she realized how stupid it sounded. Why would anyone want someone else’s clothes?
“Uh… Your boyfriend was here yesterday. He said he was helping you move.”
“You saw him?” the officer asked.
“I let him in. Julie said she was moving out, and Brent said he came to help pack. I figured he was living here anyway, so—”
“You let him in?” Julie practically shouted the words. “How could you let someone else into my apartment?”
The landlord took a step back. “I thought he was living here.”
She stared at him as if she couldn’t believe what he’d done.
Andy rubbed her shoulder. “You have renter’s insurance, don’t you?”
“No, I dropped it two months ago.” She didn’t have the money for the premiums. Now she didn’t have a way to earn a living or the clothes to wear for a job interview, but the biggest losses were the personal things—Grandma’s pearl ring, Grandpa’s wood carving of a horse, the needlepoint pillows Grandma made for her, and the pictures. So many precious pictures. Those things couldn’t be replaced at any price.
Andy put his arm around her and gave her a little squeeze. He probably thought she’d start crying, but Julie was too angry to cry. Brent had not only stolen her clothes, he’d stolen her peace of mind. And he’d stolen the after-glow from making love with Andy.
She wanted to hold Brent down and kick him in the balls until he screamed for mercy. And then she wanted him locked up for the rest of his natural life.
<>
Much later, it seemed, Andy walked out to the field where his brother and uncle worked. “Sorry I got here so late.”
“No problem.” Charlie cocked his head and looked Andy over from head to toe. “You finally got some. Last night or this morning, probably both.”
Andy propped his hands on his hips. “How do you know these things?”
“Experience,” Charlie said with a big grin. “How was it?”
“Incredible, and I’m not discussing sex with you.” Charlie had sex with so many women, he probably didn’t even remember which ones he’d slept with. Andy had more discriminating tastes.
“So what happened this morning at Julie’s apartment?” Trevor asked.
Andy talked as they worked, telling them what they’d found. “This guy is so sick, he’s downright scary.”
“He probably thinks if he takes her clothes, she’ll have to come live with him,” said Trevor.
“He’s wrong.” Andy knew Julie wouldn’t willingly go anywhere with Brent Bosch. “She wants to buy a gun. Good thing she can’t afford to buy one now, because if she did, the next time she saw him, she’d blow him away.”
“Can’t blame her for feeling that way,” said Charlie.
No, Andy couldn’t blame her for being angry, but this was a matter for the police to handle.
Andy glanced around him. This field was well underway. Looking into the distance at the fields they’d already harvested, he realized how much they’d accomplished in the past two days. There was still a lot of work to be done, but they were getting there.
He wondered what Julie would be doing today besides asking Otis how to use the crystal ball. As angry as she was, she’d probably be asking him to show her how to hex someone, which might be safer than buying a gun.
Thinking about Julie, his mind drifted to last night. After they left the shower, they made slow, sweet love in his bed and fell asleep with their naked bodies pressed together. He’d never felt as satisfied or content as he did with Julie.
Humming She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy, he went to work. Charlie threw an ear of corn at him, and Andy grinned. To hell with Brent Bosch.
Julie belonged to him now.
<>
After Andy went out to the field to work, Julie wandered around outside the barn, talking with her mother on her cell phone. “Mom?”
“Julie, I’ve been trying to call. What on earth is going on? The police were here this morning asking me about Brent.”
“He broke into my apartment again. He took all my clothes and everything personal—family pictures, personal papers, the things Grandma and Grandpa gave me. Everything that meant anything to me is gone.”
“He must have had a reason. I can’t believe he’d do all that without good reason.”
After all Brent had done, Mom still believed in him. He’d charmed her and lied to her like an experienced con man. “Mom, I’ve been trying to tell you he’s mentally unstable, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
“I’m listening now, honey. I can’t believe he took your clothes.”
It wasn’t the only thing he took from her. He’d systematically ruined her real estate business. Now he’d made sure she couldn’t go job hunting. No one would hire her anyway, not with him hanging around.
Maybe the police would arrest him and keep him in jail this time, but she had her doubts. Unless they found her things in his possession, he’d worm his way out of trouble again.
She put her phone in her pocket and wandered into the barn to check on the puppies. Their little white-tipped tails wagged and they scampered over to see her. Cute little stinkers. Julie rubbed Cassie’s head and the dog leaned against her leg. She’d always loved dogs, but an apartment was no place to keep a dog, especially a big collie.
Otis walked into the barn and dropped into a chair near the puppy box, a cardboard box they’d outgrown. Cassie put her head on his knee, and he scratched her behind the ear. “Charlie told me what happened at your apartment. The police will arrest that guy and they’ll recover your stuff.”
“I hope so.”
She scooped up a puppy to cuddle. “I feel like my life is in limbo, then I look at you and realize I have no reason to complain.”
“Don’t feel sorry for me, girl. I’ve had a long, mostly happy life. Now you’re here, and Andrew. What more could an old man want?”
Tears burned the backs of Julie’s eyes and she turned away so he couldn’t see her cry. This brave old man had accepted her as part of his family.
Otis asked, “Are you afraid of mice?”
She wiped her eyes. “Not unless they touch me. Why?”
“I bought some mouse traps. I thought you could put them in the loft.”
“You don’t use poison?”
“Not with the puppies around.” He pointed to the workshop area in the corner. “There’s a bag on the workbench with the traps, and there’s cheese in the refrigerator you can use for bait. I don’t mind having a couple mice around, but there’s a whole lot more than a couple around here lately. Time to chase them out before winter sets in.”
Julie wondered if Otis would be around by winter, then she wondered if she’d still be in River Valley by then. Leaving Andy now would tear a hole in her heart, but he didn’t want a long-term relationship, and without him, why stay?
Otis helped Julie bait the traps and she climbed the ladder to put them in the loft, which had a bunch of trunks and boxes stored there. “What’s in the boxes?”
“My mother’s things. Most of her family died in the influenza epidemic when she was a baby. She grew up with her grandparents and when they died, she ended up with the things from their caravan. She married my father in 1934. Ma was 16, and my father was 25. I was born a few months later. She lost a couple babies after me, then my siste
r was born. But she ran off years ago and never came back.” He shrugged. “She didn’t like the farm any more than my son did. Can’t say I blame her. My grandfather was hard on all of us. He never did like my mother. Come to think of it, he didn’t much like my father either. Or me.”
“Why didn’t he like you?”
“When he married my grandmother, she already had a child—my father—which folks just didn’t do in those days. Pregnant girls either got married or gave the baby away, but she didn’t do that. She had the baby and kept him. Nowadays it’s no big deal if a woman has children without a husband, but back in 1919, it was fodder for gossip, especially in a small farming community. Then when my father married a gypsy, I guess the gossip started all over again, and Granddad didn’t like it. He didn’t like Ma, never spoke to her unless he had to.”
“How sad.”
“Granddad whipped me for something when I was a kid. Only time I ever saw my father lose his temper. He slugged Granddad in the face, nearly knocked him out, said if he ever touched me again, he’d kill him.” Otis grinned. “The old man never hit me again.”
Otis motioned toward the loft. “Ma’s whips are in a box up there somewhere. She taught me how to use them, so I’d feel safe, but after Granddad died, I put them away.”
Julie finished setting the traps and climbed down the ladder. “So your granddad wasn’t your natural grandfather?”
“Nope. In spite of him, I was a happy kid. My grandmother was great, and she outlived him by many years. The old man died when I was ten.
“Time for another pill.” He stood and walked back to his trailer.
It was an interesting conversation, but Julie found herself wondering why he’d tell her all that family history.
<>
Pounding on the door woke Brent. As he pulled on his jeans, he smiled, sure it was Julie coming to chew him out for taking her stuff. Hell, she was moving anyway, so why not move in with him until the wedding?
“Coming,” he yelled, ducking into the bathroom. “Just a damn minute.”
