Love Me Tonight

by Gwynne Forster

  She made herself look at him. “I hope you’re right. They’re all lovers. Look at Russ and Velma. All they need is a bed.”

  “Does it bother you?”

  She shook her head. “In one way, it’s reassuring. In another, it makes me wonder if I’ve done the wrong thing with my life. Until I knew you, I put romance on a back burner. We’re around the same age. How did they understand life better than I did?”

  “Don’t think like that. Providence dealt them a good hand, and it will deal you one. You only have to open your eyes and your heart.”

  Chapter 9

  As they prepared to leave the Harrington house that Sunday morning, Heather and Judson stood at Judson’s car with Telford, Alexis, Henry and Tara. “It’s been many a year since I met people who touched me so much,” Henry said, “and I know I speak for the whole family. I can’t thank you enough, Judson, for me fishing gear and me camera. As soon as Tara prints them out for me, I’ll send you the pictures I took at me party.”

  Alexis slung an arm around Heather. “You were sweet and so thoughtful to bring Tara that beautiful necklace. She’s a good child, but if she hadn’t been able to wear that necklace last night, she’d have had a hissy fit. Fortunately for all of us, it went beautifully with her dress. I had to give Velma one of my sachets. She loves Dior as much as I do.”

  “Are you coming back soon, Miss Heather? Please ask Mr. Judson to bring you back,” Tara said.

  She hugged Tara. “Thank you, Tara. You made me feel so welcome.”

  “We’d better get on the road, sweetheart.” He turned to the group. “Leaving here isn’t easy. I hope to see you all soon.” They exchanged hugs and kisses, and Telford grasped Judson in a brotherly embrace.

  “Drive safely,” Telford said, and they headed back to Baltimore.

  Heather waved as they drove off. She’d never had a weekend like that one, and told Judson as much. “It was wonderful,” she added. “Pamela and I are meeting for lunch next Thursday. She’s a newscaster at WRLR.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Judson said. “When is she on?”

  “She’s on camera live four to four-thirty. They run her taped segments at six o’clock.”

  “I’m glad she works in Washington, so that the two of you can lunch occasionally and get to know each other.”

  “Oh, I am, too. Are we going to see each other tonight?” she asked him. “I…uh…I mean—”

  He stopped at a gas station, filled the gas tank and got back into the car. “Please don’t qualify it,” he said. “I need to know when you want to see me, just as you need me to tell you how I feel about you. Knowing that you love me, that you care for me and want me gives life an entirely new meaning. I was going to ask you if we could spend the rest of the day together. We could get some food at one of the take-out places, play some music and enjoy each other’s company. I’ve been looking at you for the past two days, and I’ve seen a big sign that said ‘Be careful about touching. Everybody’s watching.’”

  She winked at him. “Passion flares highest when you can’t do anything about it. When you walked into the Harrington kitchen in those tight black jeans and red shirt, I nearly swallowed my tongue. Unfortunately, both Henry and Telford caught my reaction.”

  He turned the key, started the motor and drove off. “There was nothing unfortunate about it. Every man likes for other guys to know that his woman wants him.”

  “I’m not your woman,” she joked.

  “You’re not a woman who can be convinced with words.”

  “You have other means of convincing me?”

  He flashed a wide grin. “Sure I have. Don’t you remember?”

  “I won’t dignify that with an answer.”

  “The real reason is that you don’t have one.”

  At their favorite take-out shop, they bought enough food for lunch and dinner and went to her house for a leisurely afternoon. “Who takes care of your dog when you’re away?”

  “I have a dog sitter. Rick doesn’t like kennels, so I leave him at home.”

  They put a tablecloth on the living-room floor, spread the food there and had a picnic while they listened to Buddy Guy play and sing the blues. “I’ve never done this before,” she said. “It’s fun.”

  “Anything I do with you beats what I do with anybody else,” he said, and after they ate, he put the food and used utensils in the kitchen, came back and stretched out on the floor with his head on her lap. Absentmindedly, she let her fingers play in his hair and at his nape while they listened to Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll.”

  He turned on his side, put his arms around her and kissed her belly. He pushed up her T-shirt just enough to kiss her bare flesh. Shudders ricocheted through her as he adored her with the sweet torture of his tongue. She caressed his head, and when his lips drifted lower, heat shot through her, and she shifted her hips because she couldn’t help it. As if he didn’t know the effect of his kisses, he pushed her T-shirt higher and fondled her breast while his tongue wreaked havoc inches below her belly.

  She told herself not to let him see how his maneuvers affected her, but he lifted her hips, spread her legs and buried his face in her center. It was too much. “Judson, stop teasing me.”

  “What do you want me to do? Don’t you want me to love you?”

  “Oh, honey. I want you to get inside of me and make me feel the way you make me feel and stop playing with me.”

  “I’m not playing with you. I adore you. I want to make love to every centimeter of you inside and outside,” he said, easing his fingers into her pants and under her bikini panties and letting them dance.

  Taking him by surprise, she rolled him over, straddled him and took off his belt. She stared down into his eyes, not sure that she hadn’t gone too far, but the hot, shining lights in them encouraged her, and she pulled down his pants and his cup, finished getting out of her own pants and bikini, got back on him and took him into her. She began to move, and he sucked a nipple into his mouth and moved up to her with rapid strokes. Almost at once, the heat started at her feet and moved up her legs until her thighs quivered, the pumping and squeezing in her vagina shook her to the core and she lost control.

  “Honey, I can’t stand this. It’s… I’m going to die.”

  “You won’t. Tell me you love me.”

  “I love you. I love you so much.”

  “Tell me that I’m your man.”

  He slowed down.

  “Yes,” she conceded. “You are. Honey, give it to me. I need it.”

  “Who’s your man?”

  “Oh, Lord. You are. You’re my man.” Screams erupted from her throat as he turned on the power and she exploded around him.

  He’d tried to postpone the moment when she would possess him completely, thrilling him as no woman ever had as she squeezed, pinched and throbbed around his penis. But she exploded so violently around him that he was helpless to hold back.

  “Baby, I love you. You’re mine. Mine,” he moaned and splintered in her arms.

  She had her head on his shoulder, but he moved it so that she could see his eyes. “I don’t want another man to touch you. Not now. Not ever.”

  She gazed down at him. “And I don’t want you to put your hands on any other woman.”

  He couldn’t help smiling, because he’d known that she’d say that or something like it. “Not to worry, sweetheart. You’ve hooked me.”

  She hugged him. “You blackmailed me.”

  “It was a moment of truth, baby, and you told the truth. You’re my woman, and I am your man. Period.”

  They stayed that way for a long time, not speaking. Holding each other. His belly began to pinch him, and he moved her to his side. “I never thought I’d be happy with my back pressed to the floor,” he said, getting up. “I’m getting hungry. Let’s see what’s left to eat in there.” He dressed, went to the kitchen and made sandwiches of the sliced ham, Gruyère cheese, tomatoes and bread.

  “Any mayonnaise in here?” he
called to her.

  He heard her padding to the guest toilet. “Look in the refrigerator. And please fix a lot. I’m starving.”

  They ate the sandwiches, drank beer and sang along with Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Luther Vandross as the CD changed. “Do you think you could tolerate having me around all the time?” he asked her, taking a last swig of beer with his head resting against her shoulder.

  “I don’t know. I just started thinking about it.”

  He sat up straight. Why in hell had he asked her that question? Angry at himself and hurt as well, he retorted, “Well, don’t spend too much time on it. Life is short.” The words had barely left his mouth when he felt the change in her, and he was sorry. She didn’t lash back, didn’t say one word. Maybe that was because she realized she’d hurt him. But he didn’t think so. For the first time, she’d had a taste of his temper, and she didn’t like it. He cleared away the results of their picnic and walked back to the living room where she sat in seemingly deep thought.

  “I precipitated that, Judson, but I spoke honestly. Perhaps I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. Let’s leave it for now.”

  He stood gazing down at her. Finally, she looked up at him, but she didn’t speak. “For the first time in my life, I’m vulnerable to a woman. I never realized how tender it makes one feel. I imagine it’s the same with you. We have to talk about this later. I can’t deal with it more right now.”

  They stood at the door looking at each other until, unable to bear any longer the distance between them, he drew her into his arms and held her for a minute. “I’ll call you.”

  “All right. Drive carefully.”

  He opened his front door, and Rick jumped all over him “At least you love me,” he said to the big German shepherd.

  “He’s been very unhappy this afternoon, Mr. Philips,” the young boy who was Rick’s sitter said. “I didn’t know what to do, so I put his leash on him, went to the park and sat with him there for an hour. He was much happier after we came back.”

  “I imagine he was. You’re a sucker for Rick’s shenanigans.” He paid the boy. “I’ll call you in a couple of days. Are you saving your money for school?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m going to Morgan State in January.”

  “Great. If I can help, let me know.”

  After unpacking and putting his clothes in the laundry bag, he called Scott. “Judson here. You were always a pretty good detective. From what I’ve told you, what is your guess as to why Mom and Fentriss Sparkman didn’t get married?”

  “How’s it going, man? How was your weekend? I want you to know that I covered for your girl.”

  Heather hadn’t told him she’d asked Scott to do that. “Thanks, buddy. I’ll do the same for you.”

  “Don’t be so flippant. I could’ve been sent to most any place on the planet.” Scott’s tone turned more serious. “I think your mother’s mother got in between them, and I’m just about sure from what you’ve said that he never knew she was pregnant.”

  “I’m thinking that, too, because he went back to Hagerstown several times looking for her, the last time not long before he died, according to Telford’s calculation.”

  “You need to see if she left any evidence in Hagerstown. Have you searched your basement?”

  “Yes. I’m convinced that she didn’t leave any information about her past in our house, because she didn’t want my dad to find it.”

  “I think you’re right, Judson. Maybe you need to do some more sleuthing in Hagerstown.”

  “I’ll give that some thought. Hang in there.” He hung up and got ready for bed, but he didn’t feel right. After what he’d experienced with Heather that afternoon and evening, he didn’t feel like passing the night without getting things in order with her. After he got into bed, he phoned her.

  She barely had the energy to get out of her clothes. After a haphazard shower, she dried off and crawled into bed. Maybe a man didn’t want honesty when the truth hurt his ego. Would he rather that she lied? She loved him. Oh, how she loved him, but he’d better learn that she could teach herself to live without him. He’d made love to her as if she were the most precious thing on earth, and when she could no longer tolerate that, he’d gotten into her and sent her almost out of her mind. And yet…

  Wait a minute. Didn’t I do the same to him? He felt secure enough to ask me that question, and what did I say? Oh, Lord, why did you make the human male so fragile?

  As she reached for the phone, it rang. “Hello.”

  “Hello, Heather. I can’t leave it this way. Your reply hurt me, but you answered honestly, and I…I guess I have to work harder on our relationship. If I’ve been remiss in any way, tell me. And I apologize for my sharp reply. I’m mature enough to know that striking back only worsens things.”

  What she’d said to him was true. If she followed her heart, she would never be out of his sight, but she wanted to succeed in her career, and she wanted that badly. But did she want it more than she wanted him? She could count on her brain and her intellectual ability, but could you count on love? Her father had worshipped her mother, and what had she done? Linda Tatum had married Franklin Tatum after breaking off with a good-for-nothing lover. It hadn’t worked. In the end, she had left her husband and her daughter and gone back to the man who she had known could ruin her life.

  Judson said that his parents loved each other, but his mother deceived her husband every day of their marriage. Was that love?

  “When the phone rang, I was reaching for it to call you,” she said. “I’m certain of my feelings for you, but you know I come with baggage. My mom left me and my father and went back to her lover. My father thinks I shouldn’t blame her, but I do. Please bear with me.”

  “I also come with problems, sweetheart, but they don’t interfere with my love for you and my trust in you and your love for me. I know you may not want to settle for a man who’s unsure of his parentage, and—”

  She interrupted him. “My goodness! Is that what you think? I don’t believe I’m hearing this. Judson, you can’t be serious. What I see in you far outshines what I see when I look at you. Whoever your birth parents were, they gave you more than your share, and your adoptive parents cultivated that beautifully.”

  “Thank you. What you think of me means more to me than I could begin to tell you. Heather, give us a chance, will you?”

  “I will, because I have to. You’ve changed my life. Since knowing you, I’m a stronger, happier person. Kiss me good-night?”

  “I love you, Heather.” He made the sound of a kiss, and she reciprocated it.

  I’ve got to stop doubting him and what he means to me. If he ended our relationship, I don’t know what I’d do.

  Judson sat in the conference room at his office the next morning with a senior partner discussing Curtis Heywood’s case when his secretary buzzed him. “Excuse me.”

  “Telford Harrington on the phone, sir. Can you speak with him or would you like to return his call and at what time?”

  “I’ll return his call in half an hour. Get the number where he can be reached.”

  “This is a tough one,” Lon Marshall said. “It’s clearly in Heywood’s favor, but there are five dentists in that clinic, and they’ll lie for each other.”

  “I know that,” Judson replied, “but Heywood has found three other people who had the same problem after going to that clinic, and he developed a liaison with one of the secretaries there. So he got information that he wouldn’t otherwise have been privy to.”

  “All right, but I suggest we call only one of those dentists as a witness.”

  “My thoughts exactly. Lon, I’d like you to speak with Heywood about this. I want to know if your impression of him is the same as mine.”

  “Right on. I’ll make the appointment today.”

  Judson left the conference room, went to his office and phoned Telford. “Sorry I couldn’t take your call. I was in a conference. How are you?”

  “I’m fine. I’m as
suming that if you had more news you’d have shared it with me.”

  “That’s right. I would have.”

  “Judson, I’d like us to go back to see your aunt Cissy, and instead of us leading her by asking her questions, let’s tell her we want her opinions on this matter and just let her talk. Russ thinks she may have overlooked something because we led her on with our questions.”

  “That’s indeed possible. When can you go?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “All right. I’ll call her now. Be in touch.” He hung up and dialed Cissy

  “Y’all come tomorrow for lunch. You want me to invite my sister-in-law to come over after lunch? She was very close to Beverly’s mother. I ’spect if she had a secret, Rose knew as much about it as she.”

  “Thanks, Aunt Cissy. That could prove useful.”

  He was parking in front of Cissy’s house at noon the next day when Telford drove up. “Man, that’s what I call perfect timing,” Telford said after they greeted each other with an embrace as had become their custom.

  “Y’all planning to stay out there all day?” Cissy asked as she stepped out on the front porch wiping her hands on her apron. She hugged first Judson and then Telford. “Come on in. It’s getting cool, but it’s my favorite time of year. I picked up some pecans for you to take back, so don’t let me forget them.”

  Judson realized that Cissy loved company, but didn’t have it often enough, and that his visits were special to her. She served them roast loin of pork with baked apples, roast lemon potatoes and string beans, with lemon meringue pie for desert.

  “If you continue to cook like this for Judson, he’ll move out here,” Telford said to Cissy.

  “Couldn’t happen soon enough for me. I’ll take him for my son any day.”

  “Thanks, Aunt Cissy. I’m happy that we found each other.”

  “Me, too. That must be Rose,” she said at the sound of the front door knocker. “Y’all, let’s go in the living room.” She introduced them to her sister-in-law.