by Ray, Marika
“What’s going on, Frank?” I shouted over the noise and flying dust.
“Parking meters going in,” Frank said with a shrug, his gaze never leaving my legs.
I clamped my teeth together and took in that startling news. Since when did Auburn Hill have parking meters on Main Street? What the hell was this town coming to these days?
I shook my head and walked into Coffee, seeing Bain a couple people ahead of me in line. Now I was back to second-guessing everything. Should I go up there with him, or stay here in line? He answered it for me by swiveling his head and looking out the door, his gaze snagging on mine. He smiled, full out, and tipped his head to the side.
I waved, like the awkward mess I was, and stepped out of line to join him.
He didn’t hug me, but he did bump me with his shoulder. “Hey, good morning.” He winked and my knees nearly buckled. “How’d you sleep last night?”
“Good, good. Very good. Best sleep ever once I went to bed.” I paused. “Well, you know. The second time. I wasn’t asleep when we were in bed together.”
I snapped my mouth shut a full minute too late. I wanted to bash my head against the wall. Why wouldn’t my mouth quit forming words? The verbal diarrhea was worse than the morning after eating at Snacho’s Nachos in Kernville on the way to the lake. You only did that one time before you prayed to all that was holy to make it stop.
Bain rolled his lips in and swayed forward and back on his feet. The self-control he exuded, not bursting out laughing at my gracelessness, was laudable. When he had himself fully under control, he looked over at me, those gray eyes so similar to mine twinkling with humor. I wanted to regret what I said, but if it got him to look at me like that, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Speaking of heartbeats, mine was out of control and I hadn’t even had my coffee yet.
“Next!” Lukas called out. The line trudged forward as a guy four ahead of us recited his order.
“You see those parking meters going in?” Bain asked. When I nodded, he continued. “The mayor’s having them put in even though the city council voted no. He found some loophole that said he had the power to install them if he needed the money for some column in his budget. ’Course, now that he’s going to chew my ass for another escaped inmate, I don’t think expressing my displeasure with the meters is a good idea. Heard talk that some citizens are going to protest.”
I nodded vigorously. “I’ll have to join them if they assemble. I’ll ask Poppy later when she stops by the clinic. She’ll know.”
Bain scrunched his face. “Is that the mail person?”
“Yeah, gray hair, sometimes purple. More round than tall?” I described her.
He smirked. “Ah yes, the Peeping Tom that stared at me through my screen door the day I moved here. I guess she was delivering the mail, but I had my shirt off after moving all the boxes in and getting sweaty. I saw her through the screen door, still as a statue. She just stood there and stared. After I got a little uncomfortable and put my shirt back on, she winked and walked off. It’s a hell of a way to welcome a guy to town.”
I laughed. “Yeah, that’s exactly Poppy. Her claim to fame is that her great-great-uncle or something like that was the infamous Levi Strauss. She’s been lobbying the city council to make more than just Fridays casual wear in the town of Auburn Hill.” I snorted. “She even sent a letter to the governor asking him to take it up in Washington for all United States Postal workers to be able to wear denim while they deliver the mail. She’s crazy, but oddly accurate with her gossip.”
“Next!”
The line moved forward again and I kind of hated how quickly Lukas was taking the orders. I wanted to stay in this line for an extended period of time, just so Bain and I could keep talking. When he wasn’t barking orders at me, he was a great conversationalist.
I shifted, his arm brushing against mine. Just that simple touch sent a shot of electricity through me. It was official: I hadn’t gotten my fill of Bain last night.
A twinge of unease hit my stomach to mix nicely with the frazzled nerves.
“Are you going to be in serious trouble with the mayor over the robbery?” I studied his face, wanting to see the truth. I got it loud and clear when the frown line appeared between his eyebrows.
He nodded and clenched his jaw, a move that turned me on as much as worried me. “Probably.”
I leaned into his arm. “Will you text me and let me know how it went?”
Totally normal to want to know if he was being fired, right? It’s not like I wanted to know because I cared about him in a girlfriend kind of way, but just as a concerned business associate. Totally.
He nodded quickly and then his face brightened. “Did you see the welcome sign this morning?”
I nodded, a smile tugging on my lips. “Yup. Tagged again. We might as well just make it official. We live in Hell not Auburn Hill.”
“Hey, Lucille. I heard you had quite the day yesterday.” Lukas gestured us up to the counter. Apparently we were next in line and everyone wanted the gossip straight from the horse’s mouth. I clamped my jaw shut and willed myself not to bray like a horse.
Use that filter, Lucille.
“Yes, I definitely did. But all’s well that ends well, right?”
“Well, you two are practically heroes, so breakfast is on the house today. The usual?” Lukas glanced at Bain after I gave him the go-ahead nod.
“Actually, just a plain bagel with cream cheese today. Black coffee.”
“No onion bagel? You sure?” Lukas’s confusion at anyone changing their usual order was comical.
If I wasn’t mistaken, Bain’s face turned a tad red.
“Nope. Plain. Thank you.” Bain could have been ordering an inmate to clean the urinal with all the warmth in his voice.
We shifted to the side to wait for our orders. I eyed Bain, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze.
“You okay there? Onion bagel debacle got you flustered?”
Bain rubbed the back of his neck and winced. “Just forgot how small towns are all up in your business.” He leaned in close and finally looked me in the eye, just an inch or two of space separating us. “I might be kissing someone later and onion bagels don’t really fit in with that plan.”
An illicit thrill rushed through my body.
Bain intended to kiss me.
We most certainly weren’t done with each other.
* * *
I spent the rest of my day trying to dive into work to keep my mind off of Bain, then getting interrupted by concerned citizens who “just happened to drop by to say hello” when what they really wanted was the skinny on yesterday’s disturbance. Poppy alone, didn’t leave for over twenty minutes, putting her behind on her route, but I was the only one who seemed to care.
Between all the craziness, I checked my phone like those seagulls eyed my food, all beady-eyed and whacked out on caffeine overdose, waiting to hear from Bain about his call with the mayor.
Around four o’clock, my obsessing paid off when my phone dinged while I was using the restroom in the back of the clinic. Normally, I don’t take my phone into the bathroom. Really, I don’t.
Bain: Not fired. Wanna celebrate at my place tonight after work? I’ll stop by the clinic and you can follow me home.
I couldn’t contain the squeal of excitement. I pulled up my underwear, the only other sexy pair I owned, and smoothed down my skirt.
“You okay in there, Lucille?” Keva called from the other side of the door.
I cringed. Squealing while by yourself in a bathroom in a spank bank was a little on the skeevy side, even for me, the owner who walked in on a client in the process of donating.
“Just fine! My favorite needlepoint pattern just went on sale.” I shook my head at myself and my weak explanation. I flipped on the water at the sink and washed my hands, hoping she’d go away.
My heart was pounding again. Help him celebrate? Did he mean more sex? Because I was totally up for that. I had time to ruminate over our encou
nter last night and today. He showed me missionary and doggie style, if my quickly Googled searches were correct. My search also revealed quite a bit more in terms of positioning. Perhaps I could ask for further experimentation.
I stepped out of the bathroom and almost jumped a foot in the air. Keva stood there, a serene smile on her face as she waited for me.
“Sorry to hang out by the bathroom, but I’m just worried about you. You know, after yesterday.”
We walked back down the hallway together, headed back to the front lobby. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. She was sweet. So concerned for my potentially fragile mental state when all I could think about was how to get Bain to agree to more sex.
“I’m doing just fine. I promise. In fact, I propose you head out of here early since we’re done with clients and I’ll be right behind you.”
She wrinkled that adorable face, looking younger than her eighteen years. “Are you sure? I can stay.”
“No, no. You go home. I know you’ve had quite a day juggling gossip mongers and actual clients. I’ll be leaving in just a couple minutes too.” I needed her out of here before Bain arrived and escorted me back to his place. I could only imagine how fast the gossip would travel if someone saw us going to his house together.
Keva finally relented. Once she had her mind wrapped around leaving, she was out of there surprisingly fast. I whipped out my phone and texted Bain back.
Lucille: So glad to hear that! Pick me up anytime…
I got busy shutting down the clinic and securing all the windows and exits. Nothing to do but sit around and twiddle my thumbs. I found myself in the sample room, oddly drawn to one particular sample, though I refrained from getting it out of the refrigerator. Now that I’d had sex with him, I was loath to think of some woman using his sperm to have his baby. Not that I had any ownership of his past ejaculate, even as the actual owner of this specific ejaculate, but I felt protective of any future ejaculate. And if I thought about ejaculate any more time that night, I might chicken out of heading to Bain’s house altogether.
Bain wasn’t an ongoing client of the clinic, so it wasn’t a conflict of interest to be sleeping with him, right?
“Lucy?”
Bain’s concerned voice echoed down the empty hall.
I hustled out of the room, feeling guilty for being in there even though I had every reason as the clinic’s owner to be in the sample room. Bain walked toward me, those muscled thighs in tan uniform pants eating up the distance. His lips hinted at a smile, but the heat in his eyes held my entire focus. He was a man on a mission.
Bain didn’t slow down as he reached me, just crashed into me and gripped me hard with those rough hands. One slid into my hair and held my head in place as he took my mouth. The other held my hips as he rocked his desire against me. So much pleasure hit me all at once, my head went dizzy, and I was double grateful for Bain holding me up.
“Hey, beautiful,” Bain whispered against my lips several long minutes later.
That was probably in my top three best greetings in my whole life.
“Hey,” I said lamely, too overcome with hormones to concoct a better reply.
He smiled like I imagined a lion did right before it feasted on its prey. “Let’s get out of here.”
He stepped back and laced our fingers together, tugging me toward the front door. The sex gods were with us, shielding us from the prying eyes of nosy neighbors, allowing us to make it back to his place without fear of spreading the wildfire rumor of our affair. I parked behind his truck in the secluded driveway and hoped no one would happen to come by and spy my car. She was far from nondescript.
We didn’t even make it through Bain’s front door, before he tugged my blouse out of the waistband of my skirt.
“Hey, easy, Tiger.” I slapped his shoulder playfully.
“I prefer Cum Warden or the previously mentioned Sexy Devil or Hammer,” he teased me.
I nearly choked on my own tongue as he threw the door open and shoved me inside. “Cum Warden?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Has kind of a ring to it, huh?” He slammed the door shut and we were finally alone.
I burst out laughing, already deciding that’s exactly what I’d call him in my head. And God forbid I ever mess up and say it out loud. My laughter cut off as Bain grabbed me again and slanted his lips over mine. A frenzy of clothing being ripped from our bodies and hitting the ground happened all the while our mouths stayed fused together. I couldn’t get enough of him.
When we were both naked, he lifted me up and started carrying me to his bedroom.
“Wait!” I shouted, tearing my mouth away long enough to get out my protest.
Bain set me down on my feet and sighed. “Of course you want to argue with me first. I should have guessed.”
I frowned and put my hands on my hips, only half annoyed by his suggestion that I was argumentative. He was naked, I remind you, so I couldn’t be fully annoyed. A naked Bain was a sight to behold. Annoyance was not the emotion he conjured with his rippling abs and broad chest.
“No, I wasn’t going to argue. I was just going to kindly make a suggestion.”
He nodded regally and swiped his open palm through the air. “Be my guest.”
I sniffed. “I think we should explore all the possible positions.”
He stared at me, not moving a muscle. I began to think my suggestion must have really stunk when he sucked in a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, what? You mean like run through the Kama Sutra?”
I nodded, glad he got it. “Yes, exactly. Like a Kama Sutra experiment. You relieved me of my virginity. Now you can show me all the possible positions to which I can experience future orgasms.”
He frowned. “Future orgasms?”
I smiled. “Yes. Now that I’m sexually active, I intend to stay that way.”
He stepped forward, his erection brushing against my stomach. “Oh, you do, huh?”
I nodded again. “Yes.”
“And just who will be giving you these orgasms?” He lifted his hand and traced a finger down from my collarbone and between my breasts.
I shivered, my brain already going soft around the edges. “That remains to be seen. Preferably someone equally inclined to experience orgasms.”
“I’m inclined, Lucy.”
His finger tracked lower over my belly and then dipped between my legs, prompting a gasp to leave my mouth. He dropped to his knees and shouldered his way between my thighs. I grabbed his broad shoulders and hung on for dear life. He used his thumbs to spread me open and he dove in, licking, nipping, and rubbing me dangerously close to the edge in a matter of a few seconds. My eyes rolled back in my head and goose bumps covered my skin. Dear God, I hope my knees don’t buckle.
Then he stopped and looked up at me. My eyes fluttered open and I would have agreed to anything so he’d keep going.
“You ever heard of a reverse cowgirl, Lucy?”
20
Lucille
I pulled into my own driveway, right as the last rays of the sun set into the ocean, that golden hour that lit everything on fire. My limbs felt lethargic, heavily worked and completely spent from an hour tangled up with Bain. My cheeks hurt from smiling, yet I couldn’t seem to wipe the expression from my face. I was giddy. I was happy. I was a new woman.
And then my mom whipped open the front door, standing there on the threshold, like I imagined many parents did when their kids were teenagers, up to no good and well and truly caught. Only I wasn’t a teen and my mom had no right to have that stony look on her face or that hand on her hip.
All those feelings of contentment from just moments ago left in a mad rush, not wanting to stick around and feel her wrath. I didn’t blame them.
I pushed open the door to my Ghia and grabbed my tote bag. Act normal. This was my house and I had every right to go out after work.
“Hey, Mom,” I called out as I walked up the cracked cement pathway to the front do
or.
She didn’t answer, just stared me down like I’d crumble under her bad mood. The thing was, the last few days had been a revelation. I’d grown up indoctrinated in the belief that men were bad, yet Bain had put a crack in that belief, treating me well and opening my eyes to another side of the story. It was a small crack, but it spread quickly, making me wonder how much of what I believed was my own actual belief or some leftover grudge of my mother’s that I’d taken on myself.
I kept walking, shoving past her as she twisted at the last minute to let me through the door. She trailed behind me as I dumped my things on the old Formica kitchen counter.
“Where’ve you been, Lucille?” Her voice was measured, controlled, assessing the situation before she let the accusations fly.
“Out with a friend. How was your day?” I opened the refrigerator and took out the ground beef I’d taken out of the freezer that morning so I could make spaghetti for dinner tonight.
“I heard a rumor today.” She flat out ignored my question.
“Oh, well, a rumor in Hell. That’s shocking.” The beef began to sizzle as the pan got hot.
“It’s Auburn Hill and don’t take that tone with me. I didn’t raise you to be crass, Lucille Eureka.” She stood up to her full height, which wasn’t that impressive at five foot four. “I heard you were dating the warden. Is that true?”
I rolled my eyes, glad my back was to her as I tended to the meat on the stovetop. “No, that’s not true.” And it wasn’t. We weren’t dating, we were fucking. I almost let out an ill-timed giggle at the shocking nature of that statement. I was kind of proud of myself. I was having an affair and I’d never felt so liberated.
Mom sighed, exasperated with me and my lack of drama. I wasn’t going to be drawn into her man-hating spiral. Not today.
“I come home and you’re dressing different, your hair is lighter, you’re going out with friends late at night. Something’s changed, Lucille, and I don’t know if I like it.”
