His heart was pounding in his ears but he willed himself to keep calm and watch her. Surely this had to be going somewhere good, but he wondered if she would ever get there. “You broke my heart, ripped it out, jumped on it, and then buried it about twenty feet under. I hated you, swore I would until the day I died, and then I plotted every conceivable plan to ruin you the same way you devastated me. I never wanted to see you again in my life.”
Maybe this wasn’t going to get good, he thought, and wished she’d just leave him alone so he could go lick his wounds in peace. Then she stepped up to him, cupped his face in her petite little hands, and smiled up into his face like the sun parting the clouds.
“But in all that time that I swore I hated you, wished I could murder you, hoped I would never experience anything so humiliating again, I knew, or my heart knew, rather, that I would do it all again just to be with you. And somehow I knew that whether it ever worked out between us, you and I, we were meant to be. So, do I?” She stood on the tips of her toes and brushed her lips across his. “Forever and ever!”
The gang cheered as Payton let out a gush of held breath and whipped her up in a bone crushing embrace. He could hear his mom cheering them on as he planted one on her, and then he heard her father loudly clearing his throat when he didn’t let up.
“Just because I love you so much, Lizzie, and since I never want to have to live without you for one more second, I planned one more little part of this evening for you and I.” Dr. Day, their church pastor, stepped out from behind the gym doors when Payton nodded in his direction.
“Grace told me that if you had to do it over again you said you wanted to elope. I figured I’d save us a trip to the county courthouse.” His smile was sheepish. “What do you say, Lizzie. Will you marry me?” A little tear slid from the corner of her eye and she smiled when she nodded.
“Good, because I couldn’t have stood for waiting any longer to call you mine. Oh, and I hope you don’t mind that your bridesmaid’s aren’t wearing the same color dresses.” Lizzie giggled.
“You did this? You put this all together?” She smiled up at him as he shrugged his shoulders. “You are...just the sweetest thing in the whole world! Remind me never to give him up,” she said over her shoulder to her friends. That’s when she noticed for the first time that her parents were there as well. “Oh, mama, daddy!” She turned back to Payton and winked. “Let’s just say that I’ve got several things on my honey do list that you can start working on starting tonight.”
“Deal. Now, are you ready?” His eyes were even more brilliantly green than they usually were, and Lizzie’s lashes had grown suspiciously wet as well.
“I’ve never been more ready in my life.”
The ceremony was supposed to have taken place inside where the prom was, but on Lizzie’s insistence they moved it to a better location. Already, Payton couldn’t resist giving in to her demands, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was going to be the most wonderful thing he had ever done.
Her father lead her down the center aisle of the stadium with their friends sitting on either side, smiling like fools as Lizzie dragged her father down each step of the stands. Dr. Day, Payton, and Colin, the best man, were standing at center field, waiting for Lizzie and her father to join them. The ceremony was short, simple, and just the way Lizzie had always envisioned it- a small gathering of her closest friends and family. When Dr. Day said “You may now kiss the bride,” Payton laid one on her so hot and heavy that everyone, including her father, laughed, and Lizzie could swear she even saw her mother wipe away a small tear from her eye. It was perfect.
“You know,” Payton said as they sipped their punch on the steps of the football stadium after everyone else had gone home, “I’ve always had this crazy fantasy.”
“Oh, yeah? Is it the one where you strip naked and streak down Main Street with all the old grannies falling dead in a faint?”
Payton chuckled. “I guess I didn’t tell you Colin and I did that a few years back. Dr. Day was forced- by the town granny patrol, of course- to give a sermon in church the next Sunday about the virtues of regarding your body as a temple and not desecrating it in front of the townspeople.”
“Nice.”
“I thought so.” He tucked her closer in to him and pulled her back so she was propped against his chest. “That wasn’t the fantasy I was talking about, though.”
She tilted her head up to study him. “Well, then, Mr. Cartwright. I suppose you’ll just have to inform me.”
“Gladly Mrs. Cartwright.” He stood and held out his hand to her. “Follow me, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
“Lizzie, you can come in now.” Lizzie couldn’t help but giggle like an innocent school girl when Payton popped his head out of the principal’s office and spoke those words in a stern, official voice.
She batted her lashes at him, and nibbled on her index finger nail, as she stood and made her way into the office. “Am I in some sort of trouble? I promise I didn’t do anything wrong.”
He shot her a snooty look that said don’t push me, missy, before pushing back the plush, leather chair behind the desk. “Take a seat and we’ll discuss what you’ve done.” He waited a beat. “And your punishment.” She jolted before regarding him with a cocked eyebrow. When she smiled he knew she was catching on. He watched as she crossed the room, trying not to drool at the sight of her already sexy legs that had shot straight to seductive in those stilettos.
“Not there,” he growled when she moved to sit on the upholstered chair across the desk from him. Suddenly he leaned forward and brushed all the clutter on top of the desk off onto the floor. “Here.”
Lizzie swallowed, and shot him a pitiful look. “Oh, I couldn’t possibly sit there, sir. That’s the spot where all the really bad girls sit, and I’m not bad at all.” And then she wet her lips with the very tip of her tongue.
Heat shot straight to his groin. “Are you sure about that? I seem to have information to the contrary.”
She giggled. “Oh, Mr. Cartwright. You’re so sneaky. So you know what a bad girl I am then?” She sat on the corner of the desk so that the sharp edge pushed her skirt up a good three or four inches. Payton could just make out the upper rim of her thigh high hose, and the garters that held them into place.
“I think I’m just hitting the tip of the iceberg.” He leaned forward, skimming his arm across her body as he reached for a pen and a pad of paper. “Why don’t you start listing all of your grievances, and I’ll come up with a suitable punishment for the crimes.”
She reached up and flicked open the top two buttons of her blouse so that the top of her lacy black bra was showing. “Oh, now, now, sir. I think we can come up with a better plan than that.”
He leaned back in his chair and studied her crossly. “Are you trying to bribe me, Lizzie?”
She smiled, slow and sinful. “Absolutely.”
She slid completely onto the desk and let her legs fall apart just enough so that he could catch a good glimpse of the length of silky leg that extended from the top of her hose to the edge of her thong. His breath hitched, and he stammered before speaking again, and she let out a wicked little cackle.
“You realize I’ll have to spank you for bribing an authority figure, don’t you?”
“That can be arranged as well, I presume. But I had another sort of plan in mind.”
He watched as she flicked two more buttons open then slid forward on the desk so her skirt pushed up to the base of her bottom fully exposing the scrap of material that covered her center. “Well,” he paused to clear his throat, “you’d better start laying out the plan real quick before I decide to meter out your punishment.” As an after thought he added with a half amused grin, “Is it hot in here to you? I think I’m going to need to get rid of this shirt it’s so hot in here.” Lizzie’s giggle dropped off into a wistful sigh as she watched him slide his shirt off revealing strong, sculpted chest muscles, and hard flat planes of belly.
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She retaliated by flicking open the last button of her blouse and leaning back just enough so that it fell from her shoulders and pooled around her wrists on the desk top. “Oops,” she said with a sincere lack of regret, eyeing him through her lowered lashes.
“That’s it,” he said springing from his chair so that he leaned over her, tall, and strong, and powerful. “I’ve had enough of your games, Lizzie. You’re obviously an undisciplined young lady and in need of a few behavior lessons.” He slid his hands around her wrists, cuffing them inside of her blouse so she couldn’t free them. “Starting right now I’m going to teach you a few manners.”
His kiss was a world of teaching all in one dose, but it was soft and seductive and left Lizzie whimpering for more when he let up. “Oh, Mr. Cartwright. I never knew you were such a wicked disciplinarian.” He smiled down at her and distracted her with another kiss while at the same time using one hand to keep her arms captive as he began to slowly slide his other over her body.
“You have no idea how cruel I can be.” He paused briefly at a nipple and thumbed it until it stood pointed and puckered and begging for his attention. That’s when he mumbled, “cruel, cruel, Mr. Cartwright,” and moved on to other neglected portions.
He had just finished his tour of her knee caps and was heading back to those particularly delectable breasts when he felt her hands skim down his torso and land firmly on his hips. She began to unzip his pants and slide them off. “Hey, I thought I was the one teaching you the manners. You’re supposed to stay still until I have you begging me to stop punishing you and start loving you.”
Lizzie liked the way he said that, but she couldn’t let him have all the fun, so she voiced her complaint. “Well, I figured if I’m going to pay the time, I might as well do a damn fine job at the crime, now shouldn’t I?”
She leaned in and nibbled on his shoulder as she let his pants fall. Slowly she moved along his heated skin to his chest and she heard him groan as she reached the sensitive tip of his nipple. Lizzie smiled to herself, and thought she was incredibly benevolent when she let him push her back so he could lavish attention on the rest of her body.
After a long, torturous path of kissing, and kneading away her clothes, he stood back and admired his work. She was naked and beautiful. She was his fantasy and his reality. She was the woman he had always dreamed of, and best of all, she was his.
“Come here, Lizzie. Come here and let me love you.”
The steady, burning green of his eyes watched her as she stood from the table top and moved to stand in front of him. His eyes told her everything, and a shiver of delight coursed up her spine. In his eyes she could see he thought she was slender in all the right spots and round and perfect in all the others. In his eyes she was the only woman on earth that measured up to his fantasies. In his eyes she was a woman, the woman. And the best part of all: in his eyes, she saw all the love, and the acceptance, all the need that she had always dreamed of one day having from him.
She let her body sink into his as she straddled him and came to rest on his thighs. Sometime later when they were both spent and exhausted, and lying sprawled on the floor between the paper shredder and an oak filing cabinet, he stroked her long, curly hair back from her neck and caressed the tender spot there just underneath her ear. He smiled down from where he leaned over her, and skimmed her body with those brilliant green eyes she had always loved so much.
“Was that good enough to satisfy your crazy fantasy life for a while?” She said.
“That was fantastic.” He kissed the tip of her nose, and suddenly this flash of mischief came into his eyes. “But, I have been having this one other teensy-weensy idea mulling around in my mind for a while.” He bent to whisper it into her ear.
Lizzie giggled as she trailed her finger across his chest and down the flat ridge in the center of his belly. “Oh, Mr. Cartwright, when will I ever be free of your cruel ways?”
Payton bent and ever so gently kissed the smile right off her lips. “That’s right, you’ve got me pegged. Cruel, cruel, Mr. Cartwright.”
Epilogue
“Hurry up, Liz, or you’re going to be late for your own party!” Payton shouted up the stairs to his wife and glanced down at his watch, again. He ran a rim around the collar of his white shirt and wished he didn’t have to wear a suit and tie. But, he was a guest of honor as well, and he smiled. He’d do anything if it made his wife happy. Anything. And that included wearing his least favorite type of clothing.
Deciding it’d be better if he went on out and warmed up the car for her, he headed out of the house to where his truck sat in their circular drive. He ran his hands down one of the wide, white columns as he passed, and thanked his lucky stars that everything in his life had come together at last.
Nearly a year had past since he and Lizzie had married, and he hadn’t let a single day pass without thanking God for all the blessings in his life. His job was great, he had the house he’d always wanted, and now, he had the wife he’d always desired.
Payton checked his watch again and shook his head. Lizzie, Lord bless her, couldn’t be on time to save her life. They’d finally convinced her father and the bank to loan them the money to start the medical clinic there in Edenville that Lizzie had always dreamed of opening, and today was the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new clinic. The ceremony started in five minutes. Thank goodness it took only a minute and a half to get there.
The truck had nearly warmed when he saw the front door open and Lizzie hustle out. Payton jogged up the steps, smiling deeply at her.
“You look beautiful, sweetie,” he said, placing a kiss on her nose. The warm brown wool dress she’d matched with her knee high calf skin boots looked good with her dark hair and green eyes. And the small bump her belly now made looked even better than everything else. Payton cupped her belly and leaned down.
“You ready to go in there, little man?”
Lizzie laughed. “He’s ready alright. Let’s just hope he gets your ability to keep track of time and not mine.”
Payton helped her into the truck then took off down the gravel drive and out onto the country road into town. A minute later they pulled up to the white, one story building just on the end of main street and parked in the expectant mother spot on the newly paved asphalt parking lot.
“It looks good. Just like I always dreamed.” She said to Payton as he helped her out, waving to the crowd as they cheered their arrival.
Lizzie walked up to the podium the mayor had set up in the grass and began to talk. “I’d like to thank everyone for coming today.” She smiled at her family where they sat in the front row and next to them at Grace. “Payton and I couldn’t have done all this without your help, and I hope you know how much this means to me.”
“I’m sure that somewhere in all the gossip line you’ve already heard this has always been a dream of mine. I can think of nothing more that I would enjoy than helping to ensure all my friends and family get the medical care they need. So, today, my dream is coming true. Behind me, the Edenville Family Life Clinic stands tall and proud. May it continue to do so for many, many generations to come.”
The crowd cheered, and Lizzie waited for them to quiet down. “There are several other people I’d like to thank. First, my parents for giving me the brains and the hard headedness to see my dream through. Second, to the mayor and the bank for realizing what good would come from having a clinic here in town. Third, to Grace, my best friend, who donated her father’s house and kindly took my offer to buy my house so we could turn her old house into my masterpiece.” Everyone laughed, and Lizzie rubbed her belly as she felt the baby give her a little nudge with his toes.
“And lastly, I want to thank Payton, my darling husband. I had a life, but it wasn’t complete without him. Thank you, Coach, for being patient through it all and for reminding me how much you have to work to get what you want the most in life. I love you.”
She took the scissors the mayor handed over to her, and whi
le the crowd cheered she cut the ribbon to her very own clinic. In the distance she could see the sign that sat on the edge of town:
Welcome to Edenville
“Our little slice of heaven!”
And, oh, how right that sign was.
The End
Table of Contents
Chapter Six
The Heart Will Lead You Home Page 38
