Charade

by Barri Bryan

  Lynn nodded, “I see, go on."

  "My love for her was a gradual thing. It grew and deepened over the years. It was calm and serene and steady.” He took Lynn's hand in his. “I thought that was the way love was."

  Lynn asked, “And now?"

  "And now I'm not so sure. What I feel for you is explosive, and fiery, and volatile, and it happened almost overnight. I keep asking myself, is this love too? Or is something that will last for a while and then be consumed by the intensity of its own heat?"

  Lynn pulled her hand from his grasp. “So what do you want to do?"

  Trace spoke slowly. “I would like some time to give our relationship a chance to find its way.” His eyes caressed her. “More importantly, what do you want? Do you think you could ever learn to love me?"

  Lynn reached once more for his hand. “I think I already do. But I need time too. You're not the only one who had a firm mind-set about love. My views on the subject have been shaken recently, too.” She patted his arm with her other hand. “You have been a revelation to me. I never dreamed such explosive, all-consuming, satisfying passion could exist between two people.” Color bloomed in her cheeks. “Do you think it could ever be that good again?"

  Trace felt his body tighten. “Do you want to find out?"

  Lynn stood. Her smile was his answer. He followed her through the kitchen, out the back door, and up the stairs to her apartment.

  The moment they were inside the door, Lynn began shedding her clothes. Trace followed her into the bedroom where the came together in an explosion of passion and need that climbed to incendiary heights before bursting into a scorching culmination that left them panting and satiated.

  Afterward, Trace rolled onto his back feeling fulfilled and complete. “What do you think after a second time around?"

  Rolling onto her side, Lynn laid her arm across his chest. “I think you're wonderful.” She sat up and asked, “Do you like cabbage?"

  "What brought that about?” Trace chuckled. “No, I don't."

  Lynn lay back down. “Good, neither do I.” She sat up again. “Do you like old movies and country music?"

  Trace propped a pillow behind his back and sat up. “I like western movies and rock and roll."

  "I can live with that.” Lynn sat cross-legged on the bed. “There are so many things I don't know about you."

  "But you'll learn,” Trace assured her, “Just as you will learn to love me."

  Lynn pulled a pillow into her arms. “Maybe we should put any talk of love on the back burner for a few months and concentrate on getting to know each other first."

  They were in bed, unashamedly naked and they had just made passionate love.

  Trace raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I don't think we could be any more intimate than we are now."

  "This is not about being intimate,” Lynn replied. “It's about being acquainted."

  Trace failed to discern the difference. Obviously, Lynn felt there was a great deal of difference. Some sixth sense told him that trying to persuade her to his way of thinking would be a mistake. “Are you saying you need more time?"

  Lynn hugged her pillow to her bare breasts. “Yes, please."

  Uneasiness moved in around Trace's feeling of well-being. “How much time?"

  "Six months?"

  Trace lifted one hand. “I promise no talk of love or commitment for at least six months.” He wasn't sure he could stay true to his rash pledge, but at this point he would have promised anything.

  Lynn lay on her back and stretched. “What are you going to tell Ralph about us?"

  Trace grinned. “The truth; what are you going to tell Lillie?"

  Lynn turned on her side. “The truth, but it won't be easy. Come over here and kiss me."

  They intermittently talked and made love until the wee hours of the morning.

  * * * *

  Trace was awakened by sunlight streaming through an east window and shining in his face. He stirred and turned to see Lynn sleeping beside him. Quietly he got out of bed, went to the kitchen and began to make breakfast.

  This is the beginning, he thought as he put slices of bread into the toaster. These were moments to treasure now and store away to recall when age rested heavily on his shoulders. He was whistling when Lynn came into the room.

  * * * *

  The next four months passed swiftly. During that time Trace and Lynn gradually adjusted to living under the same roof. They had numerous disagreements. He had expected as much. Thank goodness they were small and for the most part, inconsequential.

  Trace also discovered that Lynn was a sensible person with innate business ability and an unerring eye for the practical. It came as a surprise, all be it a pleasant one, that one so passionate and fiery in bed could be so cool and collected when presented with business situations.

  There were occasional arguments. Lynn was obstinate and unmoving when she considered herself to be in the right. However, she was also reasonable and realistic, and willing to listen to his side of a dispute.

  As the months passed, Trace's love for Lynn developed and matured. During that time, he kept his promise and carefully refrained from speaking of his growing feelings or mentioning plans for any future they might have together. He concentrated instead on the present and getting to know and understand, as much as was humanly possible, the enigma that was Lynn Evans.

  Trace was driving toward home one evening when, like an epiphany, a sure thought settled into his brain. He had waited long enough. The time had come for him to ask Lynn to marry him. It was also high time he told her how much he loved her. He stopped at Jim's Florist and bought a dozen long-stemmed red roses.

  All through dinner, Trace looked for an opportunity to broach the subject of their future together. “Do you wonder why I brought you flowers for no apparent reason?"

  Lynn looked up from buttering a bun. “Should I?"

  She was doing it again, asking questions when she should be giving answers, turning what should be a romantic moment into a question and answer session. Trace countered, “Shouldn't you?"

  Lynn changed the subject. “I finally persuaded Mother and Ralph to come to dinner. They will be here at one o'clock next Sunday. I think they're coming around at last."

  That was encouraging news. “I ‘m glad, but even if they never accept us as couple, we belong together."

  Lynn laid her knife across her plate. “How can you be so sure?"

  He had such a lovely speech prepared. The words went right out of his head. This was his perfect opportunity and he couldn't remember a word of his flowery declaration.

  Trace spoke the first thought that came into his head. “Because, I want it all, and I want it with you. I want a house with a picket fence. I want children, our children, to fill that house with love and laughter...” He paused, momentarily overcome with emotion. After a few struggling moments he apologized, “I'm sorry."

  Lynn laid her buttered roll beside her knife. “Why?"

  She was one aggravating, inquisitive female and he would probably spend the rest of his life apologizing to her for some trespass, either real or imagined. She was also warm, and witty, and practical, and impossible, and he loved her slightly more than life itself. “Damn it, Lynn I'm trying to ask you to marry me."

  "You are? But I thought..."

  "Will you answer the question?"

  Tears stood in Lynn's eyes. “Yes I will, and yes I will."

  At last an answer, and it was the perfect one. Trace jumped to his feet, sending his chair tumbling backward behind him. Coming around the table, he pulled Lynn to her feet and swept her into his arms. “You won't be sorry, I promise. I have such plans. First we get married and then we..."

  Standing on tiptoe, Lynn brushed his lips with hers. “First we celebrate our engagement properly.” Taking his hand, she led him toward the bedroom.

  The End

  Using the pseudonym Barri Bryan, Billie and Herb Houston have been writing as a team since 1990. Billie i
s a former teacher and educator. She holds an undergraduate degree in history and a graduate degree in educational psychology from The University of Texas at San Antonio. Herb is a former teacher, computer programmer and technical writer for the Air Force. He holds a degree in theology from the Trinity Valley Seminary in Kennedale, Texas.

  Billie and Herb write the kind of books they enjoy reading—stories about relationships; stories that explore feelings and probe emotions. The plots revolve around ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances and faced with difficult decisions.

  barri.bryan@lindenbayromance.com

  Other works by Barri Bryan:

  Starting Over

  From the first moment he saw Diane, dancing in another man's arms, Burt Carlisle knew she was the woman for him. The handsome and charismatic attorney swept the young and innocent Diane off her feet. After a fiery romance led to an unplanned pregnancy they married, settling into what seemed like the perfect life.

  Now it's twenty years later. Their only child is in college, Burt's career is at an all time high, and he's still as deeply in love with his wife as ever. But he's far from the model husband and after years of feeling second to Burt's career, Diane has become restless. With the passage of time she not only lost her confidence, she lost her sense of self, her independence, and the ardent feelings that she once had for her husband.

  When Diane announces that she has to return to their hometown to take care of her elderly aunt, Burt is supportive. But when he hears that she's taken a job there and that her old flame is in town, he suddenly realizes that he could very well lose the woman he adores unless he is willing to fight for her.

  Starting Over is a compelling story about a couple lucky enough to have found one another in their youth and smart enough to go in search of themselves as adults. As always, Barri Bryan does a fabulous job of capturing the love and the desire: the desire to rekindle faith in one's self and the passion in one's marriage, the desire to admit what's gone wrong and to make changes, and the desire to simply commit to Starting Over.

  This is a publication of Linden Bay Romance

  www.lindenbayromance.com

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  Visit www.lindenbayromance.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.