She inhaled the mixture of the soap he'd used to shower after working all day, the last dregs of that morning's aftershave and lemon from the iced tea he'd had at supper. The combination was so heady that she seriously wanted to throw him down on the bed for a second round, and it would be without clothing and last a hell of a lot longer than his rehearsal.
He raised his voice even louder as he left the room. "You just sleep in, darlin', tomorrow morning. I'll make breakfast. I'm sure you'll be worn out after workin' until two and that little session we just had. It won't be long until the new owners of the Honky Tonk will be comfortable without you."
She shook her fist at him and picked up a Japanese fan from the edge of the vanity and rapidly tried to cool her face. She hurriedly put on her makeup and rushed through the foyer, kitchen, and utility room into the garage. She pushed the button on the inside of the door. By the time the garage doors were up she was backing the Maverick out into the yard.
"Something needs to help me make it through the night," she said aloud as she listened to Sammi Smith singing "Help Me Make It Through the Night" on the classic country radio station. When that song ended, Mel McDaniel began singing "Stand Up." In the song he asked if you'd ever had a hot date and ended up in the backseat? He said to stand up and testify. Daisy kept time with her fingers on the steering wheel as she drove.
"Does the bed of a pickup truck count?" she asked aloud.
When she pulled into the parking lot of the Honky Tonk, Willie Nelson was singing "Always on My Mind." She was humming it when she went in the back door to find Cathy sitting on the sofa, dressed in jeans and a tank top almost the same shade of blue as Daisy's.
"Who's always on your mind? That hunky cowboy? Is he coming into the Tonk tonight?"
Daisy shook her head. "Not tonight. I'll tell you about the jam I've gotten into while we get things ready to open the doors."
Cathy listened to the whole story beginning with the night Daisy and Jarod wound up in a tangle of arms and legs on the dance floor up through the squeaky bedsprings minutes before Daisy left the ranch. The only thing she left out was the episode in the back of the pickup truck.
"And you haven't taken him to bed? Have you lost your touch, girl?" Cathy asked.
"It's just that…"
"All or nothing. We are getting to that age." Cathy finished the sentence for her.
"I don't want to admit that so I'm not answering."
Tinker arrived, went to the old jukebox, and put in some coins. "Right or Wrong" by Wanda Jackson filled the Honky Tonk.
"That's an old one," Cathy said.
"Monday night is oldies night. Tradition."
"Well, it's an omen. Listen to the words."
Daisy threw up her hands. "I'm tired of listening to words. Every damn song I hear has a message for me. The damn thing is talking to me."
Cathy batted her eyes and sang along with Wanda. When the song ended they looked up to see Tinker smiling.
"You think that's funny, Tinker?" Daisy asked.
"Little bit." He sat down and folded his hands over his chest.
The next song was "Country Bumpkin" by Cal Smith and Daisy plugged her ears with her fingers. He talked about a tall cowboy coming into a bar and a barmaid looking him up and down.
Cathy patted her shoulder. "You got a bad dose, ain't you, honey?"
Daisy removed her fingers and nodded. "That's what I want. I want life to be something; not just a ho-hum stream of days."
"Well, he's the cowboy and you're the barmaid. Who knows? Maybe Cal Smith knows what he's talking about."
The rattle of semis pulling into the parking lot preceded the arrival of a dozen or more truckers. Daisy got busy introducing Cathy and filling Mason jars with beer and stopped listening to the lyrics of every song. Merle came in and dragged Mac away from the bar and to the pool table. A Jones fan, she plugged coins into the jukebox and George entertained the customers for three songs.
Thank goodness the lyrics aren't talking to me, so bless you, Merle, Daisy thought as she mixed up a martini for a middle-aged businessman. She had just served the man when she turned around to find Chigger and Jim Bob grinning at her.
"What?" she said.
"I'm pregnant," Chigger blurted out.
"And it's mine," Jim Bob said.
Daisy was speechless.
"She's goin' to marry me. Friday at the courthouse over in Palo Pinto. We're goin' to tell her momma that we sneaked off and got married six months ago and kept it secret. We're goin' to fly to Cancun for four days and call her from there," Jim Bob said.
Daisy still couldn't find words.
"And you're goin' to stand up with me," Chigger said. "I was mad today when Glorietta come in the shop and told me you and Jarod done beat us to the altar and you didn't even ask me to go along after we'd taken the both of you fishin', but I'm forgivin' you so you have to stand up with me."
"Dear God," Daisy mumbled.
"Are you pregnant too?" Chigger asked.
"I am not pregnant," Daisy sputtered and hoped to hell she was telling the truth.
"Well, you could be if you did. You can't tell me that you… who is that woman over there servin' beer?" Chigger noticed Cathy for the first time.
"My cousin, Cathy. She needs a job. I need help," Daisy said.
Billy Bob and Joe Bob each claimed a bar stool. Billy Bob threw a hand over his heart. "I'm hurt. We were engaged and you threw me over for that Okie."
"We were never engaged, Billy Bob."
Billy Bob pointed at Cathy. "Who is that?"
"That'd be her cousin who's helping now that she and Jarod are married," Chigger explained. "Are you thunderstruck?"
"Hell, no. I'll never marry. My heart is broken. I'm going to dance until there ain't no leather on my boots just to keep my old heart from bleedin' to death right here in the Honky Tonk. Can I dance with your cousin, Daisy?"
"Not while she's workin'. What she does after hours is up to her. What's the bunch of you doing in here on Monday, anyway?" Daisy asked.
"We come to celebrate the next generation of Walkers. Jim Bob done jumped out there ahead of me and Joe Bob. He'll be Momma's favorite if Chigger has a girl. If it's another rotten old boy, then me and Joe Bob is still in the runnin' for first place," Billy Bob said. "Give me a beer and would you look at that? A whole bunch of pretty women just got here to help me get through the night."
"Well, praise the lord," Daisy said.
"If he ain't good to you, you call me and I'll break his neck. I wouldn't mind bein' your second husband," Billy Bob whispered across the bar as he picked up his beer.
"He ain't good to me, I'll break his neck. Now go pick out a pretty girl and wear some leather off them boots. Looks to me like Jim Bob and Chigger are ahead of you on that matter too." Daisy pointed toward the engaged couple all wrapped up in each other's arms.
"What's that all about?" Cathy asked.
"The Walker triplets and Chigger. I'll explain later," Daisy said.
"The Chigger who you told me about?"
"The very one and that'd be Jim Bob two-stepping
with her. She just told me she's pregnant and they're getting married on Friday," Daisy said.
"I'm glad you told me they were triplets. For a minute I thought I had a brain tumor and was seeing triple," Cathy said.
At ten o'clock Cathy pointed to the clock. "Get out of here. Tinker and I can run this place. It's not all that busy and besides, you've got your second job to go to. Acting ain't easy."
"It's my third job. Did you forget I'm an underpaid vet tech too? Don't make out the sofa anymore. Sleep on my bed. It's a lot more comfortable. The only rule is that no men are allowed in the apartment. You want sex you make them take you to the nearest hay barn or motel. And watch Billy Bob, he'll propose six times tonight," Daisy said.
"He can propose a thousand times and the answer would be no. How in the hell would I know I was in bed with the right one? Besides, after Brad I don't want ano
ther man for a long time."
"Never known you to go without a man for more than thirty days," Daisy said.
"Get out of here." Cathy shoved her.
***
Daisy figured she'd sneak into a dark house and read a few hours since she wasn't used to going to bed before three in the morning. The garage door sounded like a tractor with a bad engine when it opened, so she opted to park the car in the driveway. She was tiptoeing up the porch steps when Jarod spoke from the shadows. "Evenin'," he said in a deep drawl.
"Hell's bells, you scared the hell out of me."
"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."
He'd been leaning against a porch post and stepped out of the shadows into the moonlight not three feet from her. He wore orange cotton pajama bottoms with twoinch OSU letters written in black all over them and a white muscle shirt. Droplets of water from a very recent shower sparkled in his dark hair. Soap, shaving lotion, and a hot summer night all blended to send delicious shivers dancing up her spine.
"I thought you'd be asleep," she said.
"Not this early. Uncle Emmett turns in by nine thirty. I was listening to some music and trying to relax. That cluttered house sets my nerves on edge."
"I'm not a stuff person either. I meant to bring boxes from the Honky Tonk to pack up some of that stuff in my room. It drives me crazy."
He motioned toward the rocking chairs. "Sit with me."
She eased down into a chair and he turned a knob on a portable radio. Country music floated out across the yard. Bright stars hung in the sky. Fireflies lit up the yard in brief flashes of light and a coyote howled in the distance.
"Did you buy a donkey?"
"Did that howling coyote make you think of the donkey? I bought two donkeys. One is in the pasture right behind the house. Bought them from Billy Bob this morning. He opened the gate between this property and his and turned them loose for me. I went out and herded the spotted one up to the pasture so Uncle Emmett can talk to it tomorrow. It's the gentlest of the two. The other one is wild and mean."
She leaned her head back and shut her eyes, wishing he'd keep talking. She didn't care about what or who as long as she could listen to the deep timbre of his voice.
When she opened her eyes he was inches from her with his hand outstretched. "Dance with me?"
"Are you serious?"
"I am," he said.
He led her out into the yard, drew her next to his body, and began a slow waltz.
She pushed back and said, "Wait a minute."
"What?"
She sat down on the bottom porch step, jerked off her boots and socks, and tossed them toward the porch. "I want to feel the cool grass under my feet."
The angles of his face softened with a smile. She walked back into his embrace and he moved her around the yard through two slow country songs.
A faster song started and keeping her hands in his they did something between a polka and a square dance. She threw back her head and laughed when he spun her around. The stars were a blur and her heart raced.
The next song was another slow ballad and she could feel his heart beat against her cheek when she laid it on his chest. Midway through the song he tilted her chin back with his fist and brushed a soft sensual kiss across her lips.
She rolled up on her tiptoes, tangled her fingers in his damp hair, and pulled his face toward hers in a long, passionate, lingering series of kisses, during the course of which he picked her up off the ground like a bride and carried her toward the house. She knew the magic word was stop, but she couldn't say it any more that night than she could have when he kissed her the first time.
She reached out and opened the screen door. He didn't bump her head or her toes one time as he took the steps slowly. And his lips never left hers. Her eyes stayed shut until he took her into the bathroom instead of the bedroom.
"What are we doing in here?" she asked.
"Shhh. Tonight I'm making love to you, not having sex with you. Be still and enjoy," he whispered seductively.
He eased her down on a vanity stool and ever so slowly pulled her T-shirt out of her jeans. As the shirt went up so did the steamy hot kisses, each one making her gasp.
"Let's just go to bed," she said.
He stopped to taste the smoky skin at the nape of her neck when he tossed the T-shirt to one side. "You deserve more. Have I told you that you are the sexiest woman alive?"
"Not with words. I did see something like that in your eyes," she said.
"You are, Daisy. I can't get you out of my mind for more than five minutes at a time." He turned on the water in the old claw-foot tub. His eyes never left hers as he fiddled with the knobs to get the water temperature exactly right. He poured in bath oil that bubbled and she watched it, mesmerized as he sat down in front of her on the floor and started at her toes, kissing each one before moving on to the tender arch of her foot. Each touch was like pouring gasoline on the burning desire deep inside her body. Then he stood her up and unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, tugging them down and pitching them into the corner with her shirt and socks.
"Please," she begged. "Jarod, I want you so bad. We can take a long bath together afterwards."
"We are making love, darlin'. Not havin' sex."
By the time he'd unhooked her bra and added her bikini underwear to the pile in the corner she believed in human combustion.
He picked her naked body up, turned around, and very gently put her into the warm water. He filled a Mason jar just like she used at the Honky Tonk and slowly poured it through her long dark hair. When he applied shampoo and began working the lather into her scalp, the only thing on her mind was that she'd never had love made to her before. He took his time and poured dozens of jars of water through her hair to get all the soap out, his lips kissing every part of her neck, face, and eyelids as he did.
"Enough. Take me to bed or get in this tub with me. I can't take anymore. Your kisses on my body are pure blazes," she whispered.
He picked up bar of sweet smelling soap and lathered up his hands. "We are just beginning, honey. Washcloths and sponges are cheaters," he said as he began to give her a bath with his soapy hands.
Her skin sizzled every place his hands slipped and slid and she vowed she would get even with him one day. When he finished he wrapped a towel around her hair and one around her body and carried her into the bedroom where he set her on a straight back chair. When he'd rubbed her hair almost dry he picked up the hair brush. Stringing kisses down her back with every brush stroke, he loved every shiver that his touch caused.
"Stretch out on the bed on your stomach," he whispered as he picked up a bottle of lotion from the bedside table.
"After?"
"Before and after, too, if you want. But definitely before. Daisy, let me love you my way tonight. Let me give you all a woman like you deserves."
She stretched out on her stomach and he started at her neck, massaging and kissing alternately from shoulders to toes. By the time he rolled her over to her back her eyes were glistening and she was amazed that she hadn't burned a hole in the bedsheets.
"I think I've died and gone to heaven," she said weakly.
He removed his clothing in a blur. He stretched out on top of her and she nipped him on the neck. He was right. Making love was different than having sex, she thought when she shut her eyes and let go of every thought except fulfilling every gnawing, demanding need.
She called his name twice before he said hers and collapsed on top of her. He could have stayed there all night with his dark chest hair tickling her nose and she wouldn't have uttered a single complaint. The glow in the room was far greater than the one she'd experienced in the back of the truck.
So there are even degrees of afterglow. Is there one bigger than this?
He rolled to one side, keeping her in his arms and burying his face in her hair, inhaling the sweet smell of the shampoo.
She didn't open her eyes for fear that it would all be a dream. She vowed that she'd nev
er settle for sex when she could have love like she'd just experienced. There was a difference and if she never had it again, at least she'd experienced it once in a lifetime.
She fell asleep in his arms.
Chapter 10
Daisy awoke, sat straight up in a strange bed, and jerked her head with such force that her neck popped when someone threw a leg over hers.
"Jarod?" she whispered. Then she remembered dancing with him and being carried up the stairs. A glimmering flush covered her as the rest of the night flooded over her like the moonlight slipping through the lace curtains. She carefully untangled his leg, curled up with her face against his chest, and went right back to sleep. When she awoke the next time, sunrays filtered through sheer curtains into the room and she was alone.
I Love This Bar Page 17
