My Give a Damn's Busted

by Carolyn Brown

  He tipped back the beer and finished the last of it. “I think you and I might be friends.”

  “I hope so,” she said.

  “Well, goodnight,” he said.

  “Goodnight.”

  She watched him go all the way up in the elevator. She’d met her father. The hotel didn’t come crashing down any more than it had when she had to face off with Victoria in the same lobby. He didn’t wear a Superman cape but neither was he a homeless drunk. She dug her phone out of her purse and punched in Hank’s number, hoping he was finished with his powwow with his mother.

  “Hello,” he answered immediately.

  “Did I interrupt anything with you mother?”

  “No, that’s over,” he said.

  “I’ve got the most amazing news and I want to share it with you and I don’t want to do it over the phone and…”

  Hank butted in, “Slow down, Larissa. Was the present not a bottle of fancy wine or is it so good that you want to share it with me? I really wanted to see you tonight too.”

  “It’s better than musty old wine from Italy,” she said.

  “Larissa.”

  She held the phone away from her ear and looked at it.

  “I’m right here,” he said.

  She looked up to see him standing in front of the elevators. They each took a dozen long strides and she threw herself in his arms and hugged him tightly. “You go first because when I start I won’t be able to stop. Let’s go get a cup of coffee and talk.”

  They sat at the same table in the café that they’d been at when Victoria and the rest of the family were there. He told her about his conversation with his mother and she told him the whole incredible story of her father. When she finished she reached across the table and wrapped both her hands around his.

  “Stay with me tonight. I want you to hold me while I fall asleep and be there when I wake up in the morning,” she said.

  His eyes never left her face as he said, “Lead the way.”

  Chapter 21

  Long hard kisses started in the elevator and grew more passionate as they stumbled down the hallway toward her door. She’d only invited him to hold her while she slept but one brush of her hand against his started a chain reaction of heat that went from red-hot fire to blue blazes to white hot by the time he fumbled with the door card, picked her up, carried her inside, and then kicked the door shut with his boot heel.

  He peeled her dress down over her hips. She unbuttoned his shirt, fought with the cuff buttons as she tried to take it off, and ended up throwing it against the far wall without ever breaking the kiss. He strung kisses from her neck to her breasts while he unfastened the silver lace bra and sent it flying to land on his shirt.

  She gasped when he trailed his finger tips down her ribs to the edge of her underpants. He slowly slid them down to her ankles and picked her up like a new bride. He laid her on the bed and started a whole new session of scorching hot kisses.

  “You are so beautiful,” he mumbled.

  “You’d be beautiful if you’d get out of those jeans and…”

  How he could take off his pants without stopping amazed her. When he stretched out naked beside her, she moaned. The touch of his hand brushing against hers in the elevator had sent tingles up and down her spine. Multiply that by hundreds of square inches of bare skin against hers and it made for a bonfire so big that the flames stretched up to heaven.

  She ran her fingertips over his muscular back. “You feel wonderful.”

  “Turn over and I’ll give you a full body massage. There’s lotion in the bathroom, right?”

  She kissed him passionately one more time and flipped over on her stomach. Cold lotion against hot skin made her shiver.

  “I’m sorry, darlin’. I’ll heat it up in my hands next time.” He straddled her back and began to rub in the lotion. Bare hind end touched leg muscles. Back muscles relaxed at the touch of his hands. Before he finished with the first of the lotion she’d flipped over and pulled him down on top of her.

  He pulled the cool sheet up over them. His lips went to hers to taste the cool beer still on her breath. It was a great way to taste beer without drinking it. He’d have to remember that in the future. He nibbled at her lower lip until she opened up and he made love to her mouth with his tongue.

  Her back arched against him and she moaned his name. “I’ve missed you so much, Hank.”

  “I was crazy with wanting you but I was afraid to rush things. I never want to lose you again, Larissa.”

  She looked up to see those whiskey colored eyes staring at her with intense passion and she knew that she could trust Hank. In that split second she knew he would never leave her again. She laid a hand on his chest. The chest hair was soft and his heart was racing.

  “Please,” she murmured.

  “So soon. I’m barely getting started and the night is young,” he whispered then nibbled on her earlobe.

  “Act one doesn’t have to last forever. It can be a three act play like the one at the lake,” she said softly.

  “Well, with that in mind, the actor enters from center stage,” he teased.

  “The sexy actor with the most beautiful eyes in the world,” she said.

  He positioned himself above her. “You are wonderful, Larissa Morley.”

  Act one only lasted a few minutes. When he rolled to one side he wrapped his arms around her pulling close to him. She purred as she stretched out, making sure every bit of naked skin touched a part of him. Bare breasts against soft chest hair. Belly buttons together. Legs stretched out side-by-side with her toes touching his shins.

  “Awesome can’t begin to describe that,” she said breathlessly.

  “Round two begins now.” He shut his eyes and aimed for her lips, missed and kissed the tip of her nose, readjusted, and the next time hit the target. His hands moved over her body, causing every nerve ending to burn with desire. His body moved as if he had twenty hands and every one of them were intent on pleasing her.

  Act two lasted longer than the one before it and had even more intensity. When it came to an end with all the bells and whistles of a thundering performance, Larissa pulled the sheet up over his back and let the whole room light up in lovely golden afterglow. Hot damn! She was in love. It might take them both a year to get around to admitting it aloud but they had time and if they spent it like this every night or even once a week, she didn’t care if it took two years.

  “Act three?” she asked after a few minutes.

  He gathered her up in his arms and kissed her passionately. “Always save the best until last.”

  “Why?”

  “So you’ll go to sleep with a smile on your face,” he said.

  He let his hands go where they wanted. His fingertips created fire from her eyebrows to her toes and back again. Hot sultry kisses followed every touch and had her panting by the time he began that familiar slow rhythm that took her to another world where there were no words. Only feelings that ran so deep that she couldn’t imagine living without him, in or out of the bedroom.

  She splayed her hands out over his broad muscular back so that she could feel every sensation in her fingertips and palms. The sweat, the ripples, the heat… everything that made him Hank and everything she wanted for the rest of her life.

  “Damn!” he said as he collapsed.

  “Why damn?” she panted.

  “The curtain is closed and the play is over. I wanted it to last longer,” he gasped.

  “Why? It was perfect,” she murmured.

  He pulled her close to him and buried his face in her hair. In seconds, they were both asleep.

  He awoke to a gorgeous orange sun peeking over the window ledge and lighting up the hotel room. Larissa slept on her side, facing him, still purring like a kitten. Her eyelids danced with movement and he wondered what she dreamed about. He eased off the bed and took a quick shower before dressing. He had to go back to his mother’s house to get his things and then pick up the ladies before
eleven. He brushed a soft kiss across her lips before he left.

  She reached up and put both arms around his neck. “Do you have to go?”

  “Yes, I do, darlin’. You’ve got breakfast in an hour with your father and I’ve got to go get my things. I’ll be back at eleven.”

  “Not fair,” she said huskily without opening her eyes.

  “I know, sweetheart,” he whispered.

  ***

  “You got laid,” Sharlene singsonged when she and Larissa met in front of the elevator.

  “I don’t kiss and tell,” Larissa said.

  “You don’t have to. I was coming into the hotel when you and Hank got on the elevator. And I was in the lobby a while ago when he came down the elevator and had an extra little sling in that cute little ass of his as he crossed the lobby. I had just stepped out and was on my way to wake you up from your sex-drugged sleep when you opened your door. I waited on you and the look on your face says it all.”

  “I’m old enough to vote, old enough to sell beer, so I guess I’m old enough to have sex if I want to,” Larissa said. “You on your way to breakfast?”

  “Yep, I’ve already checked out the menu. I’m having that breakfast bar and I’m going to eat enough to warrant paying that much for it. And I didn’t get laid so they’re in luck.”

  Larissa pushed the button when they were inside the elevator. “What does that mean?”

  Sharlene rolled her green eyes and frowned. “Sex must’ve been good.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “You can’t even think, girl. What’s the first thing you want in the morning after a night of rumpling the sheets?”

  “A shower?”

  “And then?”

  “I’m starving. Just tell me what you’re getting at, Sharlene.”

  The doors opened and they stepped out. “You want food. I didn’t get lucky so I won’t clean out the bar. You’ll probably make them lose money on your breakfast. I’ll know how good it was by how much you eat.”

  “You are crazy. And there is my breakfast date. Come on, girl. You’re fixin’ to meet my father.” Larissa looped her arm through Sharlene’s.

  Sharlene stopped in her tracks. “Your who?”

  Larissa pulled at her arm until she started to walk. “My father. Hi, this is my friend and my employee Sharlene Waverly. Sharlene, my father Larry Morleo. Shall we find a table?”

  “I’ve already got one and had a pot of coffee brought over. You do drink coffee, don’t you?”

  “Black as tar and strong as you can get it,” she said.

  “Just like my mother. I swear it’s uncanny.” He led them back to a table on the edge of the restaurant away from the noise.

  The waitress came right over and asked if they needed menus.

  “No, ma’am. We are having buffet,” Sharlene said.

  “Three buffets then.” Larry led the way to the bar and they followed.

  Larissa put two plates on her tray. She filled one with pancakes; the other with eggs, sausage, gravy over biscuits, and bacon. Then she added a bowl of fresh fruit and a lemon poppy seed muffin.

  “Must’ve been damn good,” Sharlene whispered.

  “This is just for act one,” she whispered back.

  Sharlene moaned. “Hot damn! I want details.”

  “Not from me.”

  Larry chose pancakes covered with fruit and whipped cream and was already seated when they returned to the table. “So did you think of any more questions you want to ask me since last night?”

  Larissa put a forkful of eggs into her mouth and nodded. When she’d swallowed she said, “You mentioned my grandmother, Elvira. What’s my grandfather’s name?”

  “James Lawrence Morleo, Jr. I’m the third. He’s the one with the Hispanic heritage. About a quarter. Mother is a quarter Indian. Now I’ve got a question for you. Did you finish high school at Perry?”

  “Yes, and college at OSU with a degree in business finance. Then I went on a seven-year tour of the world to find myself. Didn’t get it done in that length of time so I came back home to Perry, pulled down a map in the library, shut my eyes, turned around three times, and stuck a pin in the map of the whole United States. It landed square in the middle of Mingus, Texas.”

  He sipped his coffee and smiled. “You even have her voice. I’ve been to Mingus. What did you think when you went there?”

  “That I’d gone to the end of the world, made a left turn, and found hell.”

  He laughed loudly. “I understand. What kept you there?”

  “Sheer determination laced with weariness. I hadn’t found myself anywhere else so I decided to give it a try. Now I’ve got good friends, a good business, and I’m happy,” she said.

  “How in the world did you finance a seven-year tour? Did you work in all those places you landed?”

  She finished her eggs between answers and started on the biscuits and gravy. “Did Mother ever tell you about herself?”

  “Just that she was from Perry, Oklahoma, and her retired parents still lived there,” he said.

  “She was very wealthy. I had a trust fund from my grandfather when he passed away that let me travel. Sometimes I worked. It was never because I had to, but in Italy I got a job at a travel agency and in Egypt I worked at a research laboratory. You got to get to know the people if you think that’s where you are supposed to hang your heart,” she said.

  “I thought it was your hat that you hung,” he said.

  “That too. But if the heart ain’t happy, you might as well toss that hat in the nearest trash heap.”

  “I see.”

  “I got a question,” Sharlene said.

  They both looked at her. “How in the devil did you two wind up at this hotel at the same time?”

  Larry looked at Larissa and they both started to talk at once.

  “You tell her,” Larissa said.

  “I’ve got to get home to work this morning. Here’s my card with my cell number on the back. Call me anytime. So you can tell her the story while you two finish your breakfast,” Larry said. He motioned for the waitress who brought the ticket. He shoved some bills into the folder and handed it back to her.

  “I’ll call,” Larissa said.

  “I’ll be waiting,” Larry answered and waved as he wheeled a small suitcase across the lobby floor.

  “I’m waiting right now. This is huge. This is beyond huge,” Sharlene said.

  ***

  Hank picked them up at eleven and they stopped for a late lunch at the Smokestack on the way. The waitress brought the menus and Sharlene didn’t even look at hers.

  “I want an order of french fries and a Coke. After that breakfast, I may not eat for a week,” she said.

  “Well, all I had was yogurt and a bagel at my mother’s place so I’m starving,” Hank said.

  Sharlene giggled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Larissa can tell you later. I’m not sure I could without blushing.”

  He dropped one hand and squeezed her knee. “How much later?”

  “Very much later!” Larissa said.

  He moved his hand up a few inches.

  “Tomorrow,” she said.

  He moved it a couple more inches.

  “Tonight,” she said.

  The waitress appeared with their drinks and an order pad.

  He clasped the menu with both hands again. “Chicken fried steak, fries, Ranch dressing on my salad, save me a piece of coconut pie, and make that double fries.”

  She looked at Larissa. “Same thing.”

  “French fries and a Coke,” Sharlene said. “Okay, we’ll change the subject so neither of us will light up this place like the Fourth of July. What are y’all doing for Thanksgiving? I know it’s a whole month from now but I was thinking maybe I’d go home on Wednesday and stay over until Friday morning. I’d only miss one night of work and Tessa might be able to pitch in then.”

  “If she can’t I will,” Hank offered.
<
br />   “Where are you having Thanksgiving?” Larissa asked him.

  “At the ranch with you,” he said.

  “I’ve always had it at Perry. Why don’t you go with me?”

  “What is that? A five-hour drive?” he asked.

  “Depends on whether you are driving or flying. I’d planned on renting a charter to take me on Thursday morning and bring me back on Friday morning. The Honky Tonk is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas so I wouldn’t miss work,” she said.

  “I already promised Dad I’d be there with him this year,” he said.

  Sharlene felt the tension mounting. “Hey, you got six weeks to get that worked out. You can both go home with me to Corn and believe me, after a couple of days there, you’ll both love Mingus even more.”

  Suddenly, Larissa had a burr in her underpants and put a damper on her near perfect previous evening. She tried wiggling it away but it wouldn’t budge. She’d have to work on it later because she wanted that sweet feeling back that she’d had when Hank kissed her that morning. She wanted to relive the joy of meeting her father and she damn sure wanted to feel the ecstasy of what she and Hank had shared the night before.

  It didn’t really matter where she had Thanksgiving. She could eat it on a pallet in the Smokehouse parking lot in the middle of an ice storm. So why did it upset her that Hank hadn’t jumped on the bandwagon with her to go to Perry?

  Because I’m afraid to ride the rainbow for fear it’s going to slap me right off into misery again. If I let him get too close and start making decisions and he gets tired of living a rancher’s life, he will leave me behind with the ranch. It’s like walking a tightrope with no net and trusting my partner not to push me off on the hard ground. If I’m ever to have a real relationship past the bedroom with this cowboy, I have to trust him.

  Chapter 22

  It might snow once in every sixth blue moon in north Texas and never before January or February. But that year a cold front blew down from Colorado two days before Thanksgiving. By closing time at the Honky Tonk bare tree limbs and telephone wires were coated with enough ice to make them sparkle when the parking lot lights hit them. Then the snow started in earnest and when it finished a coating of sleet covered that. It wasn’t deep but it was deadly, especially on back roads.