“You’re right, baby.”
“You’ve been checking on me, haven’t you?”
“Maybe.”
“I’ve seen you drive past my house. Why?”
“Because I love you, Maizy. This has been painful for me, too. We were trying to do the right thing but the truth is I want to tell everyone at that school to fuck off, pack you up, bring you home, and never let you leave.” He frowned at the rosebush in front of him. “Call me a caveman if you want. That’s how I feel.”
A slight smile transformed her beautiful face and she went back to work. “It just so happens I like cavemen.”
“Oh yeah?” he replied, reeling from whiplash at her sudden change in demeanor. He’d never seen her upset at him before. She was kind of cute when she was angry, although he still felt guilty for causing her pain.
“Mmmhmm. Three in particular.” She pointed her shears at the bushes in front of them. “We’re not certain, but Lola tells me that some of these rosebushes were propagated from antique roses growing in the cemeteries around this area. Rumor has it some of those older bushes came to this area with the original settlers of Divine. We’re working in the oldest section of the rose garden. These have been here a long time.”
Spencer nodded, noting the branches as thick as his forearm at the base of the rosebush he worked on. “I saw the plaque. The bushes look well-tended but the rest of the place needs some serious work.”
Maizy nodded. “There weren’t any funds this year…or last year or the year before that. It’s just not a high priority. All the work done is on a volunteer basis. Lola keeps us organized and on schedule but even she’s a volunteer. We could really use a few strong guys down here to help in the winter and the early spring when we prune more heavily and remove the deadwood.”
“I can help.”
Maizy kept working and said, “You’ve taken me by surprise here, Spencer. What happens now?”
This was what he’d hoped for. She wanted to make the choice so he’d let her. “I want to help you down here, or wherever the help is needed. Then I want you to come home with me. The deck and the outdoor room are finished. I want you to see it, if you’d like.”
“See it? That’s all?”
“I want you to see what I’d intended to build for you when we started it. The tub is set up and all the built-ins are finished. I want to make love to you out there tonight as the moon rises, if that’s what you want.”
“You missed one.”
“What?”
She pointed at his bush with the tip of her pruners. “You missed one. Yes, I’ll come home with you. I need to stop at my house to get clean clothes and my swimsuit.”
“Okay, but you won’t need the swimsuit,” he said with a sidelong glance at her and caught her smile.
“Will Cody and Heath be there?”
“No. They went to San Antonio to visit our foster mom. She still lives there. They won’t be home until late tonight.”
“Oh. She’s the lady you got your green thumb from, right?”
“Yeah. We were teenagers when Jean Goodman took us in and she could see that I needed something to do with my hands, to keep me out of trouble. She taught me everything I know about plants.”
“Won’t she be disappointed you didn’t go with them?”
“I explained that I had a prior commitment and she understood.”
“Did you have fun last night?” she asked. He smiled when he saw the little frown that crinkled her eyebrows.
“We didn’t go to the bachelor party, baby.”
“You didn’t?”
“Too many people we know at the Dollhouse. Just didn’t feel right…going there.”
“You mean you know a lot of the dancers that still work there?”
Spencer smiled, detecting her steely tone. He didn’t mind that she was possessive. “Yeah. That’s another life.”
“They’d be all over you if you went in there, huh? All nekkid and probably ready to do anything you want them to.” She whipped the deadhead into the bucket with enough force to make it bounce out.
He caught it in midair and dropped it in the bucket and then grabbed her by her upper arms and pulled her close. “Yes, but the only one I want nekkid and ready to do anything I want is a sexy little belly dancer.” She inhaled as she looked up at him and he saw her honey-brown eyes dilate a little before he kissed her right there in the rose garden.
She moaned softly and struggled to get loose from him. He refused to let her go and after a few seconds she wrapped her arms around his neck, crawled into his lap, kissing him with such fervency she shook in his arms. He tasted her sweet mouth, stroking her tongue with his and tugging at her lips with his teeth, teasing a blush into her cheeks.
Footsteps suddenly approached. “Maizy, I think I’m about done in the next—oh my!” Spencer groaned as he released her lips and they turned to see an older woman dressed in work clothes with a floppy hat on her head. She put her hand to her cheek and stammered. “Sorry to interrupt. Goodness gracious.”
“Mom, stop!” Maizy called out as the woman backtracked her steps. Maizy turned to him and he helped her stand. “I’ll be right back, Spencer. Mom!” She caught her mom as she rounded the corner and directed her back to where they’d been embracing. She smiled at him as she said, “Mom, I’d like to introduce you to Spencer Ketchum. Spencer this is my mother, Amelia Owen.”
He stood and swiped his hand on his jeans and held it out to her. “Mrs. Owen, it’s nice to meet you.”
The woman held her hat on her head and looked up, up, up at him, squinted, and then smiled at him as she shook hands with him. “My, but you’re a tall one, aren’t you, Mr. Ketchum? I think Maizy may have mentioned you to me. I’m sorry I interrupted earlier. I didn’t realize…”
“That’s okay. I surprised Maizy, too, showing up to help her work.”
Mrs. Owen turned to look at her daughter and he caught the silent exchange between them, ending with Maizy making big eyes at her as if to say, “I’ll explain later.”
Spencer could plainly see the resemblance between mother and daughter. Maizy had inherited her curls from her mother, judging by the white ringlets peeking out from her hat. Maizy had also inherited her petite stature from her mother, as well as the shape of her eyes, although Mrs. Owen’s were bright blue. She’d also inherited her mother’s smile.
“Mom, why don’t you work with us? Once this bed is finished we’ll be done for the day.”
Maizy’s mother glanced at him and smiled. “If that’s all right with Spencer, I’d like it just fine. That’ll give me a chance to get to know the man who’s been kissing my daughter.”
Spencer chuckled when Maizy rolled her eyes and looked heavenward. “Mom.”
Spencer smiled at Mrs. Owen and placed his bucket between them. She stepped from bush to bush, snipping the spent blooms she could reach, and Spencer followed behind her, cleaning out the undersides of the bushes so she didn’t have to kneel. While they did this, she proceeded to politely grill him about his livelihood, his friends, his prospects, and his intentions. Spencer thought she was cute, sort of like General Patton meets Betty White.
“Mom,” Maizy said as they gathered up their tools and prepared to leave. “I’m having supper with Spencer this evening, so I won’t be over later. That all right?”
“Of course. Would Spencer maybe like to—”
“Mom, normally I’d say yes, but he and I need to spend some time alone. And I think you need to know something else…” Maizy glanced at him and crossed her arms over her chest, looking resolute.
“Yes, dear?”
“Spencer has two very close friends. Actually, they’re more like brothers. They’re—”
“Oh, you mean the bears? Cody and…Heath? That’s his name, right? Like that nice young actor who died? He was so good in that one movie—”
Maizy blinked twice. “What? Mom? You know about Cody and Heath?”
Mrs. Owen patted Maizy’s arm.
“Of course I know about them. Lucy told me. But don’t be mad. When you looked so sad the last time I saw you, I sat Lucy down and grilled her.”
“That rat—”
“Oh, don’t be mad at her, Maizy. I wouldn’t take no for an answer. I caught her in a weak moment and she told me over a piece of turtle cheesecake. Did they make you unhappy?”
Maizy looked at him and sighed. “Mom, it’s complicated but no, they didn’t make me unhappy.”
Maizy’s mother turned to him and patted his arm, squinted at his tattoos, and said, “Why…that’s some rather extensive ink you have there, Spencer? That’s the proper lingo nowadays, right? ‘Ink’?”
Spencer grinned, liking her more all the time. “Yes, ma’am.”
She looked more closely and said, “I fail to see why so many people get their garters in a twist over such things. If it makes you happy and doesn’t hurt anyone else then they should suck it, right?”
“Mom!” Maizy went bug-eyed and put her head in her hands.
“What? Is that not the right terminology?” she asked her daughter and then turned back to him. “I’ve been through some health challenges recently, and realized that I’ve been living my life like a ghost in my own home and my community. I decided it’s high time that I got out here and seized the day with the rest of you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I love your nice manners. I’d like to meet Cody and Heath sometime too, if they’re as nice as you. Lucy says they are, and that they’re also quite large, like you. I suppose that’s why she calls you the bears.”
Mrs. Owen’s eyes twinkled as she talked to him and he was struck once again by the family resemblance. “I suppose so, ma’am.”
Spencer escorted Maizy and her mother up the walkway, paying attention to the areas that were cracked and making sure that Maizy and her mom didn’t trip or lose their footing.
Clouds moved in front of the sun and Mrs. Owen looked up and said, “As hot as it’s been lately, we may be in for some storms. The weatherman said last night that there was a possibility all week so you two be careful tonight.”
At her car, she hugged Maizy and then shook his hand again and said, “You should come to dinner next Sunday night, Spencer, and bring Cody and Heath as well. Patrick, Lucy, and Beck will be on their honeymoon and it’ll just be me, George, Rhonda, and Roberta. The shock would be good for George—that’s Maizy’s father—and for Roberta, too. Maizy’s father and sister both have sticks up their ass about some things but I’m still hopeful they’ll come around.”
Maizy choked on her spit and walked away, leaving him to stand there chuckling with her mother.
What could he say to that? “Yes, ma’am…I mean no, ma’am.”
Mrs. Owen laughed and said, “I like you, Spencer. Take care of my daughter.”
Once she’d kissed Maizy good-bye and was in her car and on her way home, Maizy said, “I’m sorry, Spencer. She assumes a lot.”
“I like your mom. She’s funny. I can see where you get your good looks.”
She crossed her forearms under her breasts and scuffed her sneaker toe against the cracked asphalt. “Think so?”
He kissed her temple and said, “Let’s swing by your place and then grab supper at Rudy’s. I want to get you home and into that antique tub. You’re going to love it.”
A little while later, they slid into the corner booth at Rudy’s. It was still early for supper, so the restaurant wasn’t that busy yet. Rudy greeted them and offered them menus and said, “Miss Owen, I hear wonderful things about you from my granddaughter.”
Maizy grinned at him and said, “I love having Amber in my class, Rudy. She’s smart as a whip.”
Rudy nodded in agreement and since they both already knew what they wanted, they placed their orders with him.
Maizy sighed and rested her feet on the booth next to his thigh and said, “My feet still hurt from last night.”
Spencer scoffed and decided to give her a hard time. “Oh? Danced the night away, did we?”
She nudged his leg with her sneaker and grinned. “Yeah, that’s it. I made those strippers earn every tip I tucked in those teeny-weeny G-strings they have to wear. My ‘tipping fingers’ are even sore.”
Snorting, he said, “I hope you washed those ‘tipping fingers’ well, baby. I’m glad you had a good time though.” He yanked at the laces on her shoes and held her foot still when she would’ve pulled away, smiling at her with intent. He looked around and there was no one close enough to see what he was doing. “Why do your feet hurt?”
“The new heels I wore last night were higher than I usually wear.”
He looked across the table at her and growled. “Really high?”
She grinned and her cheeks turned pink as she nodded. “Yes, silver with tiny straps across my toes and instep, and ankle straps.” She swallowed as he slipped her sneakers off and laid her feet in his lap under the table.
“Spencer, you shouldn’t—” She pressed her lips together and blushed a deeper shade of pink when Rudy hurried up to the table with their drinks and their appetizer, completely oblivious to what Spencer was up to.
After Rudy retreated, Spencer whispered, “No one will know if you just sit there and enjoy, baby.”
“My feet are dirty. They’re probably stinky, too.”
Spencer chuckled as he slipped her ankle socks from her tender, warm feet. “They are not. They’ve been inside your socks and shoes all afternoon. They aren’t even sweaty. Now hush.” He held her heel in one hand and squeezed it gently as he stretched her toes back and massaged her arch. She let loose a soft groan and satisfaction filled him when her eyes rolled for a second.
“That feels so good.”
“It does.”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “It feels good to you, too? Do you have a foot fetish?”
“No. Or maybe I do…for your feet in particular. I think you have gorgeous, delicate little feet.” He stroked her instep and her arch with firm strokes. “And you look fantastic in heels. The higher the better, I’ll bet.” He shrugged. “If that means I have a foot fetish, I’m okay with that. Just so you know why I like them.”
“I’ll have to bear that in mind.” She breathed out as he rubbed the balls of her feet and stretched her toes back again, drawing another groan from her. “Maybe I’ll model the ones I wore last night for you.”
“That’s not the only thing I want you to model for me.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I want to see you in that black lace thing that was hanging in your closet.”
“The catsuit?” The flush deepened in her cheeks as she giggled. “You’ve seen me in it before.”
“Pardon?”
“I was wearing it the day we met.” His eyebrows rose and his cock tingled when she smiled at him and stroked his inner thigh with her toes. “Yup. I knew the first day of school would be a little rough and I needed a pick-me-up.”
“Damn.” He remembered the way the lace pattern had drawn his eyes to her legs and reimagined her with that sexy-as-hell bodysuit on and hardened further. A sexy smile crossed her lips as she lightly caressed his stiffening erection with her toes. “Now I really want to see it on you by itself.”
She leaned back in her seat casually and whispered, “It has a split crotch.”
“That’s just mean,” he said and actually smiled when she giggled again. “I want to see it on you some time but right now I just want to get you alone.”
Gazing at him from across the table, she murmured, “I missed you, Spencer. I missed Heath and Cody. I know the three of you thought you knew what was best for me but you have to let me determine that.”
“We were protecting you.”
“I like that you’re protective, Spencer. I respect that, but I deserved a say and I still don’t appreciate that the decision was made before I even knew what was happening.” A half chuckle escaped him. She knew Cody well. “When I told you about the warning I received, it was
n’t so the three of you could ‘take the situation in hand.’ It was because I trusted you to trust me to make the right choices. I wasn’t hinting that I wanted to break it off or that I need you to ‘fix it.’ I just needed your support and encouragement.” She sighed as he kept massaging and she said, “So what happens now?”
“I take you home with me.” They’d left her car at her house but her neighbor had seen her leave with him. “And I’ll bring you home later.”
“And what about Cody and Heath?”
He sighed. He honestly hadn’t given it a lot of thought, trusting that things would just work out on their own. Heath’s belief had become his own. “Heath will be happy that you came over and sad that he missed you. Cody…”
“Cody will…what?”
He chewed his food in quiet thought for a minute. “This has been hard for him too, baby. I can tell how unhappy he is and I think he must feel a big burden for being the one to…”
“Break up with me?” she offered a little tartly as she pushed her food around her plate.
He reached out for her hand and stroked over the delicate bones and tendons, powerfully aware of how breakable she was, and yet how strong, too. “He’s a natural problem solver. I think that believing he had created the problem made it more painful for him. When Heath told him about seeing you the other day, and that he was sure it wasn’t over between us, Cody didn’t argue. I think he’d be very happy to see you.”
“That remains to be seen. And just so you know…” She looked down at her lap and frowned for second before she met his eyes. “I’m not going to just jump back into his arms like nothing happened.” She sounded very resolved but he could see that she’d struggled to even get the words out, as though she was unsure.
He released her hand when she tugged at it and he said, “Understood. Let’s take it one step at a time, baby. You done? I’m ready to get you home.”
She met his eyes and warmth filled his chest as she smiled and nodded. “Home. Yeah.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Maizy the Bear Charmer [Divine Creek Ranch 16] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 28
