Executive Decision

Citation preview

EXECUTIVE DECISION

Mandy M. Roth

Executive Decision By

Mandy M. Roth  

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Mandy M. Roth

© copyright December 2007, Mandy M. Roth Cover art by Eliza Black, © copyright December 2007 New Concepts Publishing Lake Park, GA 31636 www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

 

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Dedication: Grandma, you’ve always been a guiding force in my life. Thank you for always being there for me.

 

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Chapter One “Becker’s profits are falling at an alarming rate. Let’s just say that it’s bad enough they’ve decided to outsource the marketing to another firm—hopefully us. People, this is our chance. Opportunities like this don’t fall from trees. This could be the deal of a lifetime. What team wants to tackle this one? Simthe, your team’s loaded down enough with the Flickerton account. I can’t spare you. How about you, Rogers, Jacks, or Walters?” Tapping my ball point pen on the edge of the cherry table, I barely noticed the buzz of the week’s staff meeting in my ear. The majority of it was always a recap anyway and the first time around with it bored me to tears. Subjecting myself to it twice was insane. Instead, thoughts of my weekend plans ran through my head. It had been close to five months since I’d been out on the town with the girls and my withdrawal was now full-blown. One of my best friends, Lauren, was convinced that my employer, Baum Marketing, was holding me hostage. She’d threatened twice to send in the marines if I didn’t get a day off soon. In my current state of mind, I’d let her. Besides, a room full of uniformed, armed men who had been trained to use their bodies as weapons couldn’t be that bad, right? I understood where Lauren was coming from. It wasn’t like I was purposely avoiding her. I needed a break too but accounts were up. Striking while the iron’s hot is a must in the world of marketing. And the iron had been hot for months now. Seeing any sort of out of the workplace activities would be a pleasant welcome to staring at the same four, pale grey, walls another minute. Just a week ago I’d found myself holding an interior decorator’s card in my hand wondering what my boss would say if I spruced my office up and brought my bed in. He probably wouldn’t care much for that. Then again, the bed might be a welcome change from his hard desk. My luck, a fellow employee would walk in on us and I’d either end up in a workplace orgy or the butt of even more jokes. Work had become all consuming and as much as I loved what I did, I enjoyed a social life too. Or at least I think it was called a social life. If memory served it was one of those things where you go out with your friends and enjoy yourself. The idea was fast becoming foreign to me. “Elizabeth?” Hearing my name, I looked up from my mindless task to find the entire boardroom full of people staring at me. It is always so wonderful to find myself on the receiving end of ten pairs of questioning eyes. The next worst thing would be having a piece of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of my black suede Alisonia pumps. As sexy as that sounded, it just isn’t what I think the designer had in mind to pair them with. This fall’s latest craze—three sheets instead of two. Not. “Elizabeth, are you okay?” I glanced towards the head of the firm, Charles Baum and forced a smile onto my face. Smile pretty and pretend you were following along. It might work. “I’m sorry, Mr. Baum, you were saying?” Charles adjusted his diagonally striped silk tie while he avoided looking at me and cleared his throat. The navy in his suit brought out his light blue eyes, making him look younger than he  

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really was. At forty-five he was prime pickings. He still had a full head of natural hair that he wore short in the back and on the sides but let spike about a half inch up on top. Granted, where it once had been varying shades of light brown, it was now laced with white as well. In my opinion it gave him more character as did the tiny lines around his eyes. But having always liked older men, I was biased. Women flocked to Charles and he adored the attention. He also enjoyed the thrill of the pursuit. I figured that out from the moment I started working for him. My normal standoffishness suited me well when it came to him. For years I resisted his advances, the entire time secretly wanting to sample what he had to offer. Now, I almost regretted not giving in sooner. “If everyone would please excuse us,” Charles said, his tone dry, warning. I stood, collected my paperwork and went to leave. If he wanted to cut the meeting short it was fine by me. That just meant I’d be heading home an hour earlier—for once. “Not you, Elizabeth.” Oh, yippee. Apparently, smiling pretty and hoping for the best didn’t work. I should have tried unbuttoning a button or two. Perhaps my cleavage could have won me safe passage. Charles was polite enough to wait until the oversized oak doors to the boardroom were closed before giving me his famous “you are in for it” look. “Elizabeth, what in the hell is going on with you lately?” “Nothing. Why?” “You’ve been walking around half-here and half-not. Your head certainly isn’t in the game. And the moment someone points it out to you, you snap. Did you know that two of your interns asked to be moved off your team? I have never had one request a transfer before, let alone two at the same time.” My jaw dropped. There was no possible way I’d chased two interns off my team. When I found out which sniveling, whiny, little nineteen-year-old went to Charles, I’d wring their necks. “Have you anything to offer, honey?” I narrowed my gaze on him, letting it go hard. “Don’t call me honey when you’re implying I’m being the wicked bitch of the west branch.” Working his tie off, he walked towards me. The instant he started on the baby-blue and navy cross-hatched shirt beneath it, I knew what he wanted. And it wasn’t to reprimand me for my behavior. Oh, there might be some light spankings involved, but they were ones I’d certainly enjoy. “Elizabeth, would I ever call you a bitch?” “You called me one twice last night.” The smile that ran over his face could melt almost anyone, even me. “Now, honey, I think we both know why I said that.” He walked over to me, placed his well manicured hands on my hips and pulled me to him. “You didn’t seem to mind me calling you that when you were bent on your hands and knees. Bedroom play aside, I respect your work too much to think ill of you. You’ve put out some amazing promotions and you’re our youngest team leader.” “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” It did, but I wasn’t about to admit that to him. Knowing he’d squirm was much more fun. “No. It’s supposed to keep me out of the doghouse.” “Don’t you mean, keep you out of your own house?” It was no secret. Charles had a live-in girlfriend that he’d never gotten around to breaking up with. No part of me believed he ever would. Belinda spent a great deal of her time away for photo shoots and fashion shows. The processed blonde woman was model material for sure but spent her time behind the scenes as a “hands on” agent. She prided herself on how tight of a hold  

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she had on Charles. If she only knew. At no point did I enter into a sexual arrangement with Charles under the pretense I could change his wicked ways. Charles wasn’t a man to make a commitment and that was fine. I wasn’t fond of the idea myself. No part of me wanted to settle down and spend my life in some cookie cutter suburb anyway. A set of pearls and an apron didn’t just turn me off—they scared the living hell out of me. Visions of turning into my mother plagued me every time a man wanted more. Being married to someone who was as screwed up as me when it came to relationships would only lead to disaster. Finding a man who was the complete opposite of me wouldn’t be any better. Hell, he’d head for the hills before the honeymoon was over. No thanks. I’ll pass. “Mmm, I like this,” Charles murmured, pulling my white georgette blouse out of the top of my short grey and black patterned skirt. “Tell me you have the little lace bra on. You know, the one with the matching crotchless panties and I might forgive your behavior at work lately. I should warn you that if you are wearing those, you will be good and thoroughly fucked before you set foot out of this room. And don’t think I’m joking. I’ve had dreams about you spread out on this very table, with your hair fanned out around you, your skirt up over your waist ... mmm, I’m sure you get the picture.” Apparently not as clearly as he did. I held my grin back as best I could. Charles’ dream sounded more than fun to me. The urge to climb onto the table and spread myself wide for him was great. Somehow, I held back. That could be an after work hours game. Besides, we’d already decided to tone back our ‘little sessions’ and acting that fantasy out was far from restraining ourselves. “Sorry. As much as I’d love to be off the hook with you, I opted for underwear with a crotch. Better luck next time.” Not wasting any time, Charles reached around me, grabbed my butt and gave it a good squeeze. “Elizabeth, you scared me. For a minute there I thought you’d changed your thong wearing ways. Don’t do that to me. My heart isn’t what it used to be.” “The way you carry on in the bedroom you’d still want me even if I wore a paper bag and there’s not a damn thing wrong with your heart. You’re ego is a bit on the over inflated side, but there’s really no cure for that.” Charles laughed, and I couldn’t help but to move closer to him. “You’ve got me figured out.” “I’d like to think so.” “Do you know what I’m thinking as I stand here looking at those sexy legs of yours?” A knowing looked passed over my face. “My guess is how nice they are wrapped around your waist.” “Close.” The look in his eyes told me just how close I really was. He’d always been a sucker for my height. At five-nine barefoot, Charles’ mouth was in kissing distance while standing. Almost being as tall as he was had other advantages. We could have sex standing up, a feat many missed out on. He pulled a strand of my dark hair up and began twirling it around his finger. “I love this too, you.” No surprise. Charles was a sucker for women with long hair. With hair that bordered on black, I was the opposite of what he had at home. Often, Charles would make tiny comments  

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about how blue my eyes were compared to Belinda’s. The last thing I wanted or needed was to be an unwilling party in a “who is better than whom” contest so I tended not to comment. “Elizabeth, you could get a man to give up anything to be with you with just one look.” Charles was always one to say sweet things but never one to go this overboard. Maybe he was finally going to tie the knot with Belinda and thought I’d take the news hard. I’d feel bad for him, shackling himself to a manipulative bitch, but I’d be fine. “Something you want to tell me?” “Only that I can’t stop thinking about having those full lips wrapped around my—” Putting a hand on his chest, I interrupted him. “Whoa Don Juan, laying it on a bit thick there aren’t you?” “Am I?” “Ask a question, get a question. Ah, Charlie, you know that’s my absolute favorite game to play.” Something flashed in his blue eyes as he leaned into me. “Nice try, but you’re sexy when you’re annoyed too.” “Then I should run for Ms. America. The swimsuit competition alone would put me in a lovely mood. I mean with all those judges rating on how well my ass looks in bloomer style bottoms just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.” Charles planted a tiny kiss on the tip of my nose and chuckled. “Are you still going out this evening?” Seeing where this was headed, I decided to stop the jealous outburst in its tracks. “Are you still going home to Belinda tonight?” He bit the corner of his bottom lip and released his hold on me. “I deserved that.” “I know. And yes I am going out tonight.” I rolled my neck, hoping to work out the permakinks that had taken up residency there some two years prior. Surprise. It didn’t work. “I’m tired, Charles. I’ve pulled seventy hour work weeks for months handling Joanne and Doreen’s teams and I deserve some down time.” “Listen, I understand that I’ve put a lot on your plate these last few months but I knew you could handle it. Besides, you’re taking two weeks off soon. I still think you should let me come along. I’d love to meet your family.” “That would be one for the photo album. Mom, Dad, this is my boss who is just a smidge older than me. We’re fuck-buddies. Who wants cake?” Even I couldn’t stop the tiny giggle that followed. “Charles, I hardly consider taking time off for my ten year reunion as extensive downtime. And you know, as well as I, that I’ve not taken a vacation in over two years.” “There was that week we spent in Italy acting like bunnies every chance we got. Remember the veranda? I don’t know about you but I was chafed the next day.” Tapping one long fingernail on my hip, I just stared at him, hoping he’d feel just how annoyed I truly was at the moment. It must have worked. “I know, I know. We were there on business, Elizabeth, but you have to admit it was fun.” “Yes it was fun.” “See, I haven’t tossed anything at you that you can’t handle. You are truly an amazing woman.” Wonderful, because he thought I was superwoman, I got screwed picking up the slack for Joanne who eloped with a guy she met on the subway less than a month ago. If that wasn’t bad enough, Doreen, the head of the layout department up and decided to have her baby a month  

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early. They give you a due date for a reason. Stick to it. “With the Becker account on the table does that mean you won’t be coming to my reunion with me?” “As much as I’d love to, honey, I can’t. There’s no way I can walk away from a deal like this.” I was disappointed but I’d live. “Since you’re in need of some downtime, do you want me to give the project to Walters? It’s yours if you want it, honey. Just say the word.” The very mention of Vincent Walters’ name made my skin crawl. He was a one hundred percent, Grade-A asshole, who specialized in making my work week hell. His idea of funny was always at my expense. My knee jerk reaction was to raise my nails and snarl at Charles. I held back only due to the fact I knew I’d snap if I stayed a second longer. There was no possible way I could handle an account the size of one he was offering while in Ohio. And I wasn’t about to not go. So far, I’d missed two of my closest high school friends’ weddings, and the birth of their first children. I would not miss anything else. The speed there was much different from New York. I’d got my parents a computer for Christmas and they had yet to take it out of the box. No. Controlling the Becker account wouldn’t work for me. “Fine, whatever. It’ll make his day. Could even compensate for that ‘little dick’ thing.” Charles arched a dark blond eyebrow. “And how exactly do you know how big or little his dick is?” “Is that jealousy I’m hearing?” Bringing the word jealously into the equation always seemed to snap Charles out of the moment. This time, it didn’t. “What would you say if the answer was yes?” The room suddenly felt hotter than it should. Was it supposed to feel as though it were closing in on me? My palms began to sweat as the grey boardroom walls seemed to press closer and closer to me. Heat rose to my face and the urge to expel my lunch was tempting. Charles moved to me, touching my cheek lightly and giving me his ever calming smile. “Relax Elizabeth, I’m not asking for a commitment. I’d never do that. But I think I’ve earned the right to be a bit jealous when it comes to you. Do you agree?” “Uhh-huh,” I murmured between deep breaths. “I can honestly say I’ve never met anyone more afraid to settle down than me.” He kissed my forehead gently and held me to his chest, driving me mad with need. The woody smell of his Givenchy cologne drove me nuts. It always did and Charles knew it. Maybe it was his way of teasing me throughout the day. Whenever I was close to him and caught scent of it, I was left in a near drool state. “We’ve been in here a long time. I should get back to my office.” He didn’t let go of me. “Are you still catching flack from Walters and Seraphim about us?” I nodded but said nothing. Of course I was still catching crap from the two stooges. They’d made it their personal mission to “out” my relationship with Charles. The only reason we didn’t announce it ourselves was that neither of us were serious about it. Our arrangement was purely sexual. Sure, we were friends, but that was it. Nothing long term. Letting the entire company in on our sexual arrangement seemed a bit pointless. Apparently, Walters and Seraphim didn’t think so. Though, as pathetic as they were, my sex life most likely was the most interesting thing they had to discuss.  

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“Do you want me to call an informal meeting and clear the air? I could lay what we have out on the table. It would pull the rug out on their suspicions? If they know I’m supportive and behind this then it might scare them enough to rethink how they treat you. I own the place. Piss me or my significant other off and you won’t have a job come Monday morning.” Horrified, I looked at Charles as though he’d sprouted a second head. “What? We have nothing more than sex between us. We are not significant others, Charles. I know that you’re just tossing that out as an example but still I’d rather not have everyone in on that. You swore this was just sex.” “Elizabeth.” “Don’t Elizabeth me.” I shook my head, unable to believe the weirdness Charles was giving off. “I think you should make a doctor’s appointment. Something’s gone screwy upstairs.” I didn’t wait for his response. Instead, I headed towards the doors, ready and willing to face the wealth of speculation that would arise from my extended period alone with Charles. I was in the mood to make snappy comebacks. Hell I was always in the mood for that. Now, I’d get to direct them at my favorite targets, Walters and Seraphim. Game time.

 

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Chapter Two Pushing the glass doors of my office open, I looked around for Dale, one of my team members and close friend. In fact, I’d even go as far as calling him one of my best friends. His remarkable ability to drop off the radar at a moment’s notice always surprised me. He was a creative wonder who seldom remembered what time of the day it was—unless he had a date to get to. Even with his faults, Dale and I were close—very close, beyond best friend kind of close. Dale close. “Hey Liz, how’d the meeting go? Did we land the account?” Dale Corbin asked as he did a slight jab towards me. His floppy light brown hair with the slightest bits of blond running through it and emerald green eyes made the thirty-three-year-old look barely legal at times. Every other woman in the office seemed to think he looked like fresh meat and he ate it up. Often I’d find him cuffing his sleeves and doing semi-flex routines near the coffee pot. He denied it, of course. My goal was to capture one of the moments on film so I could show him the pictures later. That or run them in the paper with a witty caption for his next birthday. Either way, I’d accomplish my goal of proving the flexing incidents did occur. Having just turned twenty-nine, you’d have thought I’d be a bit more attracted to Dale even if he looked young. I wasn’t. Well, not that much. Sure he was incredibly handsome, had one of the best smiles I’d ever seen and skin that looked permanently sun kissed but he was just too— Dale. I knew him too well. The guy had a way of making women believe in white knights and happily ever after endings. As a little girl, I would have loved that. As a cynical and at times, sarcastic woman pushing thirty, it was just annoying. Not to mention he practically lived with me, so I got a dose of him twenty-four hours a day. Twice in the last three months alone, I’d had to hide him in the men’s restroom due to some woman basically stalking him. They had no qualms about showing up at the workplace, demanding to know why he hadn’t returned their calls. Two things had come of that. One, I was actually a bit jealous at how nice the men’s lavatory was in comparison to the women’s. And two, Dale had assumed I was now his relationship girl Friday. The last thing I liked hearing about was who he was screwing and when. Every time the topic came up, I’d do my best to change it. But it was hard to keep it away for long. Especially when we were so close and the women he chose to fuck were so determined. I’d known Dale for eight years. He slept on my sofa bed or in my bed if I didn’t beat him to it, then he’d just wait until I was out cold and climb in with me anyway. Over half of his wardrobe was at my house. I did his laundry. He helped me with anything I needed. We shared a cab to and from work. Hell, we walked half naked around each other. We acted like a married couple that never had sex. And that was more than fine by me. He seemed to be permanently attached to my hip. Luckily for him, he was at least a hot attachment. Sadly, Dale didn’t quite go with all my shoes. “So, did we nail the Becker account?” he asked again. “Oh, she nailed something but it wasn’t the Becker account.” The sound of fingernails screeching down a chalkboard would have been better than the sound of Vincent Walters’ voice. It was one of those drab, monotone ones that made me think of  

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old high school professors. I didn’t bother to turn around and that must have annoyed him. He grabbed my shoulder and attempted to turn me towards him. Dale clenched his fist and looked at me for the okay to hit Vince. Knowing Dale actually would, I shook my head. The tension in my neck and arms increased, only this time it wasn’t from stress--it was from the unexplainable urge to ram my fist through Vince’s overly tanned face. The man needed to, at the very least, roll over in the tanning bed. He had permanent white spots from where the light didn’t reach, edging his ear and jaw line. Gritting my teeth, I exhaled slowly, hoping it would calm me. It didn’t. “Kindly remove your hand from me, Vince.” “I prefer Vincent.” “And I prefer you not touching me. One of us may get her wish while the other may get to wear a cast on his wrist for several weeks. Guess which one you will be?” “So temperamental, must come from your small town upbringing.” He lifted his hand off me and I turned slowly to face him. Vince was one of those men that appeared to have gotten their head stuck in a pencil sharpener at some point prior to birth. Couple that with his seriously outdated helmet style hair, short sleeve white polyester shirt and a tie that was a good three inches above his belt buckle and you had your garden variety loser with a good job. His grey eyes raked over me. As he leered I couldn’t tear my eyes off his yellowed teeth. His pack a day habit had done quite a number on his pearly whites. A few months ago “someone” had left an article about teeth whitening on his desk. Too bad he didn’t take the advice. Maybe he’d have a girlfriend by now. Doubtful though. Dale moved in close to me. He was six-two and together we must have looked intimidating to the five-seven Mr. Walters because he took a nice big step backwards. Ah, some days it’s good to be a giant. “Did you have something for us, Vincent, or are you wasting valuable company time, again.” “I do not waste company time, Ms. Rogers.” Dale snorted. “Right. Here at Baum Marketing we often find searching for online purchase brides from Russian websites helpful in our day-to-day activities. Not only does it increase our profitability, it increases your chance at finally getting some.” My eyes bulged. If anyone knew what someone did on their computer, it was Dale. His work place buddy, Wesley, was our company computer tech. The shocked look on Vince’s face was all the confirmation I needed. Patting Dale’s shoulder, I offered him a huge grin. I’d have said “that a boy” but that may have been overkill. As if on cue, me and my shadow, Dale, spun around and headed into my office. Neither one of us looked back at Vince, though I’m thinking we both wanted to, if for no other reason than to see him run off to his computer to clear its history and cookies. “Oh, that was good.” Dale chuckled. “Not nearly as good as you threatening to break his wrist if he didn’t get his hand off you. You should have let me hit him. Baum seems to worship the ground you walk on. He’d have thanked me personally.” If you only knew. I went straight for my desk to check email before we headed out for the night. Dale went straight for the corner of my desk and planted his tight backside on it. Charles’ taste in office décor was far different from mine. That didn’t mean I was fine with Dale’s tight ass plopped upon it. Biting my lower lip, I glanced down at the brown stained veneer and back to Dale. He  

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didn’t get the subtle hint. Pushing him off occurred to me but then I’d have to touch that firm backside of his and that could lead to nothing but trouble. As nice as he was, he was also still a man and at the moment I was a bit worked up from Charles. “You’re killing me here, Liz. Did we get Becker or not?” “Not.” Dale twisted so fast that I grabbed my laptop for fear he’d send it tumbling to the floor. His wide green eyes locked on me. Trying to break eye contact with him, I concentrated on straightening the day’s files. Dale caught my wrist and held it gently in his large hand. “Elizabeth, talk to me. Why didn’t we get it? We’ve busted our asses all these months for something like this.” I pointed at his shirt, hoping it would distract him. “You know that shade of dark green really brings out your eyes. Is that new? I don’t remember seeing it before. I really like it on you.” “Elizabeth, you’re hiding. Weren’t you the one who lectured me on standing up, owning my actions?” Don’t you just hate it when your own advice comes back to bite you in the ass? “Yeah, I did tell you that, Dale. But you were the one who told me to tone down my harshness. That was my attempt for the day. If you want to know the truth, fine. I’m overworked, in need of a break and can’t concentrate worth a damn. At various points throughout the day I want to claw at the walls and run through the main room screaming my fool head off. I’m twenty-nine and feel a hell of a lot older than that. There, in all its ugly glory, is the truth.” For a moment, Dale was silent. I took that as a sign he was upset. He had worked just as hard as I had all these months. My entire team did. And we all needed a break. “So, what does this mean?” “It means we don’t have the Becker account,” I said sardonically. Dale laughed slightly. “That much I got. What I want to know is what happens with our team projection? Will we meet it?” “I don’t see why not. We’ve done twice the work the other teams have and we’re ahead of the game because of it. Now, if Walters pulls a whammy out of his rump then we’ll have some catching up to do.” “Liz, we’re so close to meeting it. If we do, you’ll be the next choice for the Vice President’s position that they still haven’t filled. Do you realize you’d be the youngest V.P. the company has ever had? Not to mention the only one who listens to eighties’ music still and dances along with it while she thinks no one is looking.” He winked and bit his lower lip, drawing my attention and holding it. Shaking myself back from the brink of finding Dale sexy, I tried to focus on what we were talking about. “I do not dance to eighties’....” He wagged his brows. “It’s okay, Ariel. I won’t tell your daddy. The Reverend doesn’t need to know anything about it.” “Really, Ren,” I batted my eyes, “but Daddy says music is the gospel of easy sexuality.” Dale raked his gaze over me slowly, causing my body to heat. “Ah, Liz, I love how on the spot you are with your movie references.” “Well, when we’re talking about cutting footloose, it’s hard to jump back.” He groaned. “That was a bad one.” “I tried.”  

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“Yes, and I win.” Did I win something involving you being naked? A dreamy sigh escaped me and I jerked back to reality—one where I did not lust after Dale. “You’ve got that lost look again, Liz. I was complimenting you on your amazing achievement. Hell, men twice your age are vying for the same position. That’s why Walters acts the way he does. He’s threatened by you. You’re not even thirty yet and you’ve accomplished an amazing amount. To be honest, it used to bother me that a woman three years younger than me was my boss.” “You’ve been offered a position as a team leader at least six times since I’ve been here. If you wanted to be one, why do you keep turning it down?” He pushed his chin forward and shrugged. “It used to appeal to me but after I saw how many hours you have to put in I decided to pass.” “You work just as many hours as I do, Dale.” His traced his finger absently over the top of my desk, pushing a pen and a paperclip as he went. It was a very Dale thing to do. Especially when he was avoiding talking about something he didn’t want to discuss. “Not true, you worked over three times last week.” My stomach tightened. I hadn’t worked over. I’d stayed over, had sex with Charles and then gone out to dinner with him. I’d successfully managed to keep my arrangement with Charles a secret from Dale. It was hell juggling the two men. Charles knew I was close to Dale but didn’t know Dale sort of lived with me. And I’d gone out of my way inventing ridiculous reasons for being away from the house when I wanted to see Charles. I hated lying to Dale most of all. Why I cared what Dale thought, I’m not sure. But I did. “So are you still upset that I’m technically your boss even though you do everything I do?” “No. I’m fine with it now. Of course, getting to see you run around in your underwear when we’re at home does help. Setting the V.P. spot aside, the Becker account will mean exposure.” He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. I hated guilt and Dale was an expert at making me feel it. “Do you want me to go back to Baum and tell him we want it? He offered it to us.” “Charles offered you Becker and you didn’t take it?” Dale caught my chin and lifted my face to him. Any other person I’d have punched between the eyes, even at the risk I’d break a nail. Dale had a way of calming me down. In a way he was a walking situation diffuser for me. Hmm, maybe having him actually strapped to my hip wouldn’t be so bad after all. He’d work wonders for my pms. “Yep, I turned him down.” “You must really need a break then.” He hopped off my desk and adjusted his olive tie. The tiniest of white lines ran diagonally on it. “Let’s go, we promised Paige we’d meet her for dinner and maybe some clubbing.” “Tell me again why you know more about my social life than me.” Dimples appeared on both sides of his handsome face. “Probably because I am your social life and when you’re not with me, you’re with my sister. That and once you check out of this place, you can’t remember anything. Lauren is still complaining about you forgetting her cell phone number all the time. Oh, she’s number two on there now. I added everyone for you. You only had one person programmed in the thing.” I only had one person in my phone? No. That didn’t sound like me. “Who did I have programmed in?” “Me.”  

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“Oh, right.” I tossed the last file into the stainless steel wire unit next to my desk and shut my computer down. “That’s rather funny since I know your number by heart anyways.” He smiled. “Let’s go. Paige is waiting.” “Have I thanked you lately for introducing me to her? I mean, it’s only been seven years. But look at it this way, at least I finally remembered.” “Hey, all I did was help you find a new place to live which just so happens to be next door to hers. That little dump you were living in wasn’t fit for humans.” I growled playfully at him. “Cut me some slack. I came to New York straight out of college and snatched up the first thing I could afford and get moved into right away.” Dale shuddered. “I can’t even think about you there now without wanting a shower. You actually had to share a bathroom with the entire floor.” “Now you’re just being dramatic. Besides, I share a shower with you.” Dale grinned and wagged his eyebrows. “Not literally but I’m open to the idea.” “I’m going to push you off the corner of my desk if you keep it up. Better yet, I’ll shove you out of the window. Falling twenty-six floors and smacking Madison Avenue head first might teach you a lesson or two.” “You came out of the womb in a bad mood, didn’t you?” “Perhaps, but it beats being born with a silver spoon, sweetie. Some of us had straw instead of a spoon.” He smiled and shrugged. “I would love to see you on a farm. I can’t picture it. The only thing about you that makes me believe you ever even lived on one is when you are extremely excited or pissed you get the slightest of accents.” I huffed. “I do not.” Dale flashed me his boyish “get out of anything” smile. “Liz, it’s kind of cute. Don’t get upset when I point it out.” Glancing towards the wall, I focused on one of the many pieces of non-art Charles had hanging around the place. In my opinion the artist had wasted a perfectly good canvas, having only put a red triangle in the bottom right corner with a slash of grey brushed through it. Dale lifted my chin towards him. “Aww, did I upset poor Elizabeth?” I let my gaze harden and tried not to laugh as I grabbed my pen and jabbed him in the backside. He yelped and lifted off the desk a bit. “Aww, did I accidentally hurt poor Dale?” “You’re kissing that if it’s still sore later,” he said, rubbing his bottom. “You deserved it for bringing my non-existent accent into this.” His bottom lip quivered and I knew he was trying not to laugh at me. “Right then, no accent. Got it. What about your affinity for baseball caps, sneakers and eating? How do you explain those? They’re very ‘not from around here’ if you know what I mean.” I readied my pen and he grabbed hold of my wrist. “I happen to like to pull my hair up into a cap when I clean, do your laundry and ... well, I just like to wear one. As for wearing sneakers, why would I want to run around in three-inch heels all the time? My legs are long enough already. If a man is turned off by the sight of tennis shoes then he isn’t the man for me. And if you’re planning on poking fun at me for actually eating then I’ll make sure this pen goes all the way through next time.” Dale twisted my wrist slightly and de-penned me. Grinning, he leaned over me and patted my head gently. “Such a cute lil’ defensive thing.” I didn’t laugh. “Fine. Sorry. I love that you eat. I don’t think I’d ever really seen a woman eat before I met  

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you. Not sure where you put it though.” It was sweet that he was trying to backtalk his way out of a pickle with me. But it wasn’t working. “Dale, you have a mother and a sister. Do you mean to tell me they didn’t eat the entire time you were growing up?” “Rosy, my nanny raised me, not my mother. I was sent to boarding school at age six and Paige is six years younger than me. I didn’t even see my baby sister until she was almost one and then it was only briefly.” Running my hand over the side of my desk nervously, I tried to think of something to say to him. No part of me could imagine growing up that way. Whenever he let something slide about his childhood, it seemed very cold and very sterile. I have two brothers. We all lived at home until we went away to college. We fought like cats and dogs but wouldn’t dare let another person between us. I couldn’t fathom not seeing them. And I certainly couldn’t see my mother handing us over to someone else to raise us while she lived in the same house and was perfectly capable of doing it herself. She did have a babysitter come two times a week but that was because she worked those two days. Hearing Dale tell me that he didn’t grow up with Paige did explain why they didn’t ever share childhood stories with me or have any of those special jokes that I shared with my siblings. Dale leaned back on my desk and propped himself on his elbow. If it had still been during business hours I would have pushed him off but no one but Charles was still around. It wasn’t like he’d dare say a word to me about it. “Don’t you go growing a conscience and getting all sentimental on me, Liz, or I’ll be forced to go get my rubber band gun and handle it.” My mouth dropped. “You told me you threw that away!” He grinned from ear to ear. “I lied.” “I had a welt on my butt for a week after you got me with that!” He twisted a bit and laughed. The deep sound wrapped around me and I instinctively wanted to bat it away right after I let it circle me once more. “I know. It was cute and it must have hurt. Sorry about that. But in my own defense--I thought your pants were thicker and I also had no idea you didn’t have underwear on.” I pushed him hard but it barely budged him. “I did too have on underwear.” “Sweetie, a thong doesn’t cover much cheek now does it?” “Go file something, Mr. Silver Spoon Man, and let me sulk.” “Sulk?” “I found out today that my date for my reunion isn’t going to be able to make it. In one respect it’s good because I had no idea what in the hell I was going to do with him during Daddy’s sixtieth birthday party. Daddy hates all men that have anything to with me, except you.” He shook his head a bit. “Kind of late in the game to bail on you considering you’re flying out this weekend.” “Tell me about it. Next time I’ll be sure to pick a more reliable guy.” He smiled wide. “Want me to come? You were already planning on someone being there and I can finally meet your family. I feel like I know them, yet I’ve never really met them. Plus, I think I found the perfect gift for your father.” “Pierce Dale Corbin, you do not need to buy my father a birthday present.” “Liz, every time I answer the phone at your house and it’s him, he grills me on when we’re going to begin dating so he can get planning on grandchildren. Never in a million years did I expect a girl’s father to beg me to hurry up and start doing his daughter.”  

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Nodding my head, I did my best to block the knowledge out. I failed. “I’m sorry he does that to you. Has my mother cornered you yet? She thinks we’re lying to them and ‘living in sin’ but she promises not to tell my father. I think she’s itching to get to plan a wedding and has put all her hopes in you being the man on the cake topper.” Dale laughed so hard he shook the desk. “Want me to videotape a message to her telling her how much I’m not getting from you?” I jabbed him with my pen, lighter this time and in the arm. “No.” “I’ll tell her in person then. When I meet her in person. This will be great. I’ll get to see where you grew up, meet your family and some of your old friends.” “Are you sure you don’t mind going? I thought you were going out with Ashley.” I asked, still surprised that Dale seemed genuinely excited about going. “Liz, I haven’t gone out with Ashley in two years. And, no. I don’t have a date planned. I’d love to go. I’ve got as much vacation as you built up and since we aren’t taking on the Becker account I’m not busy here. We’ve got two weeks. We could spend as much time as you want with your family and maybe do something together.” I thought about it a minute. Dale was right. He could get the time off, and he wouldn’t think twice about coming with me. “I’m flying. I hate to fly and you fly everywhere you go. You’re going to have to sit by me while I clutch the seat and sweat.” Dale chuckled. “I think I’m up for that. Though, if you leave claw marks on my arms, I’m telling your mom she was right about us and I’ll use that as proof. She’ll know you’re a wild one then.” I snorted. That was something Dale would do. “Are you sure you don’t mind? Ohio isn’t anything like New York.” “I just told you that I’d love to see you on a farm. I’m game.” I tried to hide my excitement. Dale had just single-handedly saved me from being the one woman who wouldn’t be showing up with a man on her arm. The best part of it all was that I could take him to my father’s birthday party. Charles was not going to go to that. I don’t think my father would be pleased to learn I’d been seeing an older man. I beamed. “Thank you, Dale.” “It’ll be fun.” “Yeah, fun to watch the boy born with a silver spoon in his mouth on a farm. I will be taking a camera.” “I may have been born with it in my mouth, but I don’t carry it around with me as an adult. Now, Paige on the other....” Tossing my hand in the air, I snickered. “Say no more. It’ll only get you in knee deep with her.” “I often fear my five foot five baby sister.” “You’re trouble you know.” I stood, grabbed my Isabelle Fiore handbag and took a deep breath in. Charles appeared outside my office door and I waved him in. He glanced at Dale, still half lying on my desk and then back at me. His eyebrow went up in question. I shook my head and Charles relaxed. This time when he looked at me, it was filled with lust rather than suspicion. “Elizabeth, do you have a few minutes? I’d like to talk with you in my office.” He had to be kidding me. I’d already told him I was going out with my friends tonight, yet he still wanted a quickie. “Mr. Baum, I’m actually getting ready to head out. Can this wait?” Or, translated—no sex now.  

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Charles glanced at Dale and smiled. “Dale, I’m surprised you’re still here. I hear the ladies talking when they don’t think I’m listening. They all seem to be fighting for a chance to take you out.” Dale chuckled. “I don’t think it’s quite like that, but thank you. I’m waiting for Liz to finish up.” Instantly, Charles had his light blue eyes locked on me. His face tightened and I could only imagine the things running through his head. “My apologies on my comment, Elizabeth. I wasn’t aware you were one of the women as well.” That made Dale sit up. He tapped his fingers on my desk. “As nice as that would be, Mr. Baum, Liz is not one of those women. I actually feel bad for any man who dates her. She’s always working. He’d have to apply for a job here if he ever wanted to spend any time with her.” He sent a large paperclip spinning in my direction upon his last comment and cast Charles a questioning look. “Yes, our Ms. Rogers is quite dedicated to her job. Since you’re on your way out I will meet with you Monday ... ahh ... no I won’t. You’re on vacation starting next week, aren’t you?” Way to point out that you won’t be getting any from me for two whole weeks. Dale stood and I heard his keys jingling, or rather my keys. He carried my house keys for me. I didn’t bother. “That reminds me, Mr. Baum. Liz, told me we didn’t take the Becker account and that she could use some rest and relaxation. Our team will be dead in the water for a few weeks since we finished the last of our month’s projects already, I’d like to take a couple of weeks off myself.” Charles looked as though he’d tip over from shock. “Really? I’m almost upset the rest of the office is gone. No one will believe me when I tell them you actually took some time off. You are just as bad as Elizabeth. At the rate the two of you are going, you’ll have enough vacation time built up to take four years off before you retire.” I laughed softly because he was right. “Is that a yes?” Dale asked. “Of course, Dale. Enjoy your time. Any idea what you’ll use the time for?” I sucked a sharp breath in and crossed my fingers for there to be no fireworks. “I think I’ll take some time, see the countryside and just relax with friends,” Dale said, looking directly at me as if he knew better than to tell Charles he was coming with me. How he knew was beyond me but the look in his eyes said he did. “Wonderful, enjoy yourself.” Charles caught my gaze and just held it for the longest time. My neck and upper chest warmed rapidly as if his stare did have the ability to scorch me. “Dale. Elizabeth.” I watched as Charles walked down the hall. A tiny piece of me thought about running after him. I didn’t. “Yoohoo, Liz.” Dale waved his hand before my face and I jerked. “You okay there? You were here then gone.” Did horny qualify as fine? “I’m good.” “Hey, do you mind if we stop by my house quick?” “Nope, you want to grab a cab?” “Sounds good to me.”

 

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Chapter Three Dale set his keys down on the black countertop and hit the lights. The room lit up and I stood in awe, just like every other time I came to his place with him. The light oak, hard wood floors matched the cabinets in the kitchen section perfectly. The only thing on the countertop was an answering machine phone combination. “You have forty-two new messages.” I rolled my eyes as his answering machine did a popularity callout, announcing just how in demand Dale was. “Hi, Dale, this is Fawn. I was just hoping you were feeling better. I’ve been worried about you. German measles just sound horrible.” I stood rooted in place as at least five more messages with the same—you were too sick to keep our date—messages played before I couldn’t hold my laugh back. Dale turned and grinned sheepishly at me. “What?” “German measles? Scarlet fever? Tonsillitis? Are these for real? They actually bought those lame-ass cop outs?” “It would appear so.” I followed him into the open room as he headed for an oversized glass coffee table. Dumping a pile of mail, he let it scatter and paid no more mind to it. I looked down at the floor and smiled. “Hey, you picked up a rug. I like it.” “Yeah, you said your feet were cold the last time you were over. Since it’s a losing battle to get you to keep shoes on your feet when you’re in the house, I thought some area rugs would help.” Why in the world would he go to that trouble for me? To one side of the coffee table sat an oversized white couch, with a two cushioned back and seat. It lacked arms so it wasn’t ideal to watch movies together on. On the other side sat two matching black suede armchairs. When I looked towards the six panel window with French doors that opened onto a small balcony that showed the view from his twenty-first floor apartment on Park Avenue, I found a high, bar height, round stainless steel table with two stools next to it. He had a white, square linen tablecloth laid so that the pointed edges set off some of the roundness. As a centerpiece, he had the potted Lady Slipper orchid I’d given him. When I’d seen the deep purple in it, I thought of Dale and picked it up for him. “Dale, why do you do that?” He made his way past the flush-to-the-wall, grey marble fireplace and then stopped at the base of the white floating staircase that lead to the upper level. “Do what, hon?” Did he just hon me? “When did you get the new table?” “The day after you wanted to eat while we watched it rain. You made me sit on the floor by the window. Is there something wrong with it? I almost ordered the oak one but I’ve got a soft spot for steel. I can get the other if you think it would work better in here.” I rubbed my temple, wondering if I did it hard enough would I understand Dale’s thought  

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processes. It didn’t help. “It’s perfect. But why did you get it?” He shrugged and looked at me like I was the odd one. “So we didn’t have to sit on the floor again. And after I thought about it, I realized that if I got one that had chairs high enough, you could see out and over the city. Though, why you enjoy looking at it baffles me.” “I give up.” Dale took being best friends to the extreme. I had to be careful what I said around him or he’d go buy the closest thing he could find to it. He had the money to do it. That wasn’t the point. The point was he didn’t need to do it. I was his friend for him, not what he did or had. He ignored me and started up the stairs. I went to check to see if the flower needed water. “Liz, you coming?” “I was going to check....” “I have my cleaning lady water it. Don’t worry.” He grinned from ear to ear as he continued up the stairs. “Hey, you know how you’re always talking about flowers and their meanings?” I kicked my heels off and followed him up the stairs. “Yeah, why?” “Do have any idea what the meaning behind the Lady Slipper is?” I was so struck with the extra plush white area rug that now spanned over his entire bedroom floor that I forgot to answer. A rather childish urge to sink my feet into it and touch it came over me. Since it was only Dale who was with me, I gave into it. I hopped onto it and it felt as though I were standing on a cloud. It was soft. Bending down, I ran my hand over it and smiled. It was not only soft and perfect, but it went beautifully with his loft styled bedroom. The white wall behind his bed had a row of six large framed photos on it. They were black and white Ansel Adams’ prints and they tied into the other side of the room where he had a large black and white photo he’d taken while traveling around Europe. It was of an old limestone abandoned farmhouse on a hill. It was overgrown and had flowers sprouting up all over it. He’d come home with it, had it sectioned off and printed onto three large, six foot tall canvases. He didn’t have them pressed together, rather they were spaced about two inches apart making the person viewing the photo work a bit to see its beauty. “Liz, why are you petting the rug?” “Because, it’s as soft as a baby kitten.” Dale laughed. “You don’t like cats.” “I know but just because I’m not a cat lover doesn’t mean I don’t know how soft a kitten is.” I went to stretch out on it and found myself being lifted into the air. “Hey!” Dale flopped onto his king sized oak platform bed and took me with him. We bounced up and almost off the bed. “No you don’t.” He hooked an arm around my waist and kept me from actually shooting off it. I laughed so hard that I snorted, making Dale laugh too. I thought I was just about done when he took hold of my sides and ruthlessly began to tickle them. I squealed and tried to push his hands away. Moving a mountain would have been easier than moving Dale. We sank down into his bed and the red down comforter acted as quicksand. Dale flipped me around to face him as if I weighed nothing and began his tickle assault again. I closed my eyes, trying to keep the tears from flowing and pushed at his torso. “En-ou-gh,” I said between shallow breaths. Dale stopped at the same time I opened my eyes. Instantly, I found myself staring into his emerald green eyes. He exhaled and his warm breath ran over my lips. I went forward a tiny bit. Dale did too. Our lips brushed and neither of us pulled away. Our eyes stayed locked for what  

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seemed like eternity. I willed myself to look away. It didn’t work. I did the only other thing I could think of. I changed the subject. “You have a very bouncy bed,” I whispered. Dale’s eyes fluttered closed and I became very aware that he had an arm pinned between us that my breast was resting on and a hand on the back of my thigh. “Yes, very soft.” Soft? I said bouncy? “Dale?” “Mmmhmm.” “I can see why the chicks hand it out to you. I think you sprinkle aphrodisiac under your bed,” I said, smiling wide, trying desperately to fight whatever the hell the bizarre tug within me was. The corner of Dale’s mouth pulled into a half grin. He opened his eyes slowly and slid his tongue out partially over his lower lip. “That theory would make this a little less weird if it had ever been proven.” I slid my hand up and stopped when I realized it was on his inner thigh. “What ... err ... do you mean?” “You’re the first girl I’ve had in my bed.” I snorted and lifted my hand, forgetting it was where it was. Instantly, my fingers skated over his groin. Dale jerked and his jaw dropped a bit. I yanked my hand away fast. “Sorry, accidental brush by. Moving on. Are you trying to claim you’re a virgin because I’m going to need to three-way Paige to hear this?” Dale’s smug look made me want to smack him or at the very least push him off the bed. I did neither. “There is no way you’re including my sister in a conversation about my sex life and no. I am not claiming to be a virgin.” “Whew. I thought I was going to have to pretend too. I’m not that good of an actress.” Dale glanced a way for a moment as his smile faded. It suddenly felt a hell of a lot colder between us than it had seconds ago. I knew I should leave it alone. It was how it was supposed to be but I couldn’t. “You know.” I looked him up and down once. “I think it’s payback time.” “Huh?” Quickly, I went for Dale’s lower abs, one of only a few places I knew he was at least partially ticklish. He sucked his stomach in, trying to avoid what was coming. “Oh, no. Don’t try it. Take it like a man.” Pulling his shirt out of his pants, I went at them again. My fingers brushed over solid, rippled muscle, and I did my best to ignore how good it felt. It was Dale and I wasn’t attracted to Dale. Right? Noticing that Dale’s thick neck was still confined within his olive tie, I took a brief reprieve. “Time out. Wearing one of those never looks comfortable.” “Imagine what I think about the bras with all the underwire and extra gadgets.” “Oh, like the one I’m wearing. I’m almost thirty. I have phobias of gravity taking over while I’m not looking.” I laughed and he shook his head. “Liz, you don’t care what you say to anyone. I love that about you.” “Life’s too short to worry about things like that.” I had trouble getting his tie to give more. Pushing him onto his back, I went to work on it again. My angle was severely off as I tried to do it lying next to him. Giving up, I rolled onto him and straddled his waist. “You would make this difficult. How fun is payback that I have to work for?”  

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Dale moved his hands over mine and chuckled. “How about I help before you strangle me? Though, I’m not sure how this tie is tied any different than the other ones you take off me just fine.” “I’m normally standing in front of you not trying to remove it from two separate positions on a bed, Einstein.” I wiggled a bit and sat up straight, doing my best to find a comfortable spot. When I did, I realized we were now groin-to-groin. Glancing down at Dale, I found him staring at me with a look I didn’t even try to guess at. I rolled my eyes. “You try finding a comfortable soft spot on you. You’re like sitting on stone. Do you really need to work out that much?” “I, unlike you, lil’ miss eat, eat, eat and never gain a pound, can’t not do it. I’d be tired all the time if I didn’t work out. Trust me, I’m better when I workout,” Dale said doing a slight double wink. My jaw dropped and I huffed. “Hey, I work out! I just don’t do it around you.” “I have known you for eight years and have never seen you working out.” Squeezing my thighs together tight, I did my best to cause him some discomfort. From the look on his face, I caused him something but not discomfort. “And you won’t see me work out if I have anything to do with it. No one, okay, no one but Seth has seen me working out.” Dale ran his large hands up my thighs and held me steady. “You’ve got to tell me now. You can’t drop a hint like that and pull it away.” “Swear you won’t laugh first.” I tapped his chest lightly. “I swear.” I chickened out right before I said it. “All I’ll offer is that half of my workout is jogging.” Dale’s forehead crinkled. “Jogging? When?” “You know how I like to ‘really’ keep up on our laundry, almost anally so? And I’m always downstairs for an hour and fifteen minutes? And you know how even though I leave a portable CD player down there, I still take my MP3 player and headphones?” “Yeah, why do I think I’m not going to like this?” “Well, you know how you tease me about sweatpants, t-shirts and baseball caps?” Dale tipped his head a bit. “Liz, are you telling me that you go jogging at five in the morning, by yourself and the whole time you tell me that you’re just three flights down doing laundry?” I grimaced. “Yes and no. Sometimes Seth goes with me. Usually twice a week because he freaked out about me being alone with headsets on and all that good stuff. So, see. I do try to take care of my body too. I would like a congrats from the body obsessed male below me now, thank you.” Dale ran his hand around to my backside and gripped my ass tight, pulling me down hard against his groin. “Dammit, Liz, I have a treadmill here and got you a membership to my gym. You know, the one I go to once you get back from doing ‘laundry’.” I thumped his chest hard with my middle finger. “Don’t take that tone with me. I do work on laundry too. I’m only gone thirty minutes. You know that the basement is huge and dry so I do other things.” “What juggle knives and swallow fire?” “I don’t want to talk about it now. Not until you’re done being an ass. Seth warned me you’d do that if you found out. He also told me he’d tell you if I dared waver off the route he mapped out for me.” Dale pinched my butt cheek hard and then gave it a swat. “You aren’t going alone again.” “Ouch, that hurt.”  

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“Did it?” I nodded and looked away, waiting for him to say good. He didn’t. Instead, he rubbed the area gently. “Sorry. I didn’t think I’d get you that hard. Are you okay? I still feel bad about the rubber band. Liz, I honestly didn’t know you’d bruise. I’m sorry. I would offer to kiss your ass right now but you’d just hit me, so I’ll pass.” I glanced down at his torso and realized that I now had his deep green shirt completely unbuttoned. How did that happen? Worse than that, I was drawing lazy lines along the ridges of his muscles. Deciding to make an effort to save face, I flashed him a mischievous smile and went at his lower abs full on, tickling them like mad. Dale shifted back and forth slightly and jerked upright a few times. He had an amazing ability to control just how ticklish he was and I envied that. “About done?” he asked, making his voice sound extra laid-back even though his stomach muscles were tense. “I’ll not surrender.” Sliding my body down his legs, I dropped my head down and pressed my mouth against his low stomach. I blew as hard as I could, not really caring how or what I sounded like. That did it. Dale was instantly laughing to the point he was gasping for air. I kept going, wishing he had at least a little loose skin so I could get him really good. Moving my way up his sides, I went for his neck. He wasn’t ticklish there so much as he couldn’t really handle having his neck touched. He’d been that way since I knew him. I went at the other side and he turned his head fast, blocking me. I went to move back and when I came down, I ran straight into his lips. My entire body lit as our lips touched briefly. His phone rang, breaking the strange vibe between us. We clearly had been putting in too many hours at the office. The phone rang twice more before the machine picked it up. I heard Dale’s deep voice greet the caller before it beeped. “Dale, its Renee. Just calling to tell you how bad I feel that you have the flu. I was looking forward to our date tomorrow night but I’ll take a rain check. Get better soon.” Date tomorrow? He told me he didn’t have a date. I rolled off Dale and got to my feet a bit too fast. Grabbing the edge of his bed, I steadied myself. Dale rose to his feet and sounded like it hurt him to do so. I put my hand out to him and smiled. “We better get a move on it before you get the chicken pox and can’t go to dinner with Paige and me.” Dale stared down at me with warm green eyes. I touched my lips and looked away. “Liz, have I ever cancelled something we plan?” Why was he asking me questions when my mind was mush? “I don’t know. Not that I can remember but we don’t really plan things so much as they just happen.” The second I said it, we both looked down at the bed and then back at each other. “Right then. Are you ready?” “Yeah.”

 

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Chapter Four “Elizabeth, can I ask you something?” I continued to walk up the last of the four flights of stairs and nodded, knowing I’d most likely not want to answer Dale’s question. I mean, really how many times does the question that follows that one turn out good? “Umm ... err ... is there something between you and Baum?” I thought he’d ask about what happened at his place. Charles hadn’t entered my mind. “No. Well, I mean we are friends, but that’s it. You aren’t buying into Walters’ smear campaign are you? Come on, Dale. I thought you were on my side.” “I am on your side, Liz. It’s just that Baum ... Charles watches you, when you’re not paying attention and there’s something in his eyes. It’s hard to explain but it isn’t just mutual respect. It’s more than that. I’d say it was lust but that doesn’t even sum it up. He looks at you like he knows your body well and that at any moment he’s going to leap across the table to take you. Trust me, I’m a guy and guys know these things. He’s got a reputation for being a heartbreaker, and I don’t want to see you get hurt. Plus, you work for him and that can’t lead to anything good.” “Pffft, don’t be ridiculous. He probably watches me funny because he’s scared of me. Remember the time I accidentally knocked the night janitor out? God, I still can’t believe the man thought it was okay to tap my shoulder while I had headphones on. I wonder what ever happened to him.” “He quit.” “Right. That reminds me. Did you know about two of our interns asking for a transfer?” “Umm ... well ... yes I did. I’d have told you but I was fairly sure you would have scared them to the point they never showed back up to work again.” “Which ones put in for the transfers?” “I plead the fifth, if for no other reason than to save two young men’s lives. But, this really isn’t what I want to talk about, Elizabeth.” Whenever Dale called me by my whole name, he was usually upset with me. The walnut floorboards creaked as I stepped into the hallway. I focused on the pale eggshellwhite walls and not on Dale. Normally, I was fine with a few white lies. This guy seemed to make me want to polish my tarnished halo. First, I’d have to dig it out of the trash receptacle then I’d see how salvageable it was. Dale grabbed my hand, stopping my momentum. “Be honest, Elizabeth. I’ve known you longer than any of your girlfriends, yet you rarely confide in me when it comes to the men in your life. You’ve seen me at my worst. Talk to me. Be honest and maybe it will help the way you’ve been feeling.” “A Pez dispenser full of anti-depressants would be much better, not to mention fun at parties. Better yet, how about a gumball machine full of them. Now, that’s what I’m talking about. Put a penny in, get a day’s worth of relief out.” He rolled his eyes, tipping his head to the side. “Elizabeth, you’re doing it again.” Not wanting to hear another one of Dale’s theories on my life, I headed down the hall  

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towards my apartment. My “shadow” matched me step for step. “What am I doing again, Dale?” “Hiding behind your sardonic wit.” It was my turn to roll my eyes. The man had obviously missed his calling. He had yoga instructor written all over him. “Christ, Elizabeth, let someone in. Stop being such a hard ass. You hold that little piece back from me. Why?” That did it. My ever-ready temper ignited. Spinning around, I glared at Dale. “You don’t need to know everything about me, Dale. In fact, you don’t know me as well as you like to think.” His green gaze raked over me. “If you say so.” “Ah, I thought I heard you, Elizabeth.” Turning, I smiled when I saw a head of shockingly blond hair that tapered on the top and led to longer sideburns. “Seth! I didn’t know you were back in town. How’d your shows go? Tell me you got autographs for me and I’ll be forced to kiss you. Seth adjusted his navy velvet Armani sports coat. The cotton blue, open collared shirt he wore beneath screamed money, as did most everything Seth owned did. The greatest thing about him was that he never came off as anything other than a caring, funny man who would do anything for you. Living in one of the six units on my floor, Seth and his partner Jeffrey made it their mission to “watch” over all the single women in the building. The idea of needing anyone to baby sit us was ridiculous, but they did it none the less. And they did it with style, poise, and a grace that I had yet to find in any other men. “The shows were great. Though, they’d have been better if two of my models hadn’t come down with the stomach flu. Luckily, Porsche, my new assistant, found me replacements or my head would have been on a chopping block. And I for one, do not want to know first-hand if Dolce & Gabbana have tempers or not.” He winked at me, knowing what a fan I was of them. “I finished up early so I caught a flight home. I can’t stand France. It was three weeks of straight hell. If we didn’t have a show with the same models coming up next month, I wouldn’t have bothered.” “Got any inside tips on what’s coming out? Preferably something on the lines of male underwear. Oh, and I’ll need you to model them for me. I may not be able to touch the goods but I’ve been dying to see them. If they’re half as good as the outside wrapping then women everywhere will be envious of Jeffrey.” “But of course.” Smiling, he embraced me tight, giving me a squeeze that cut my ability to breathe off for a moment. His scent was enough to make a woman’s toes curl, not that he cared. “Kid, I could photograph every article of clothing I saw there, label it, draw you a diagram, and you would still do whatever the hell you wanted when you got dressed in the morning.” “Not true,” I said, giggling softly. “I’m very fashion conscious.” His laugh reverberated through me. “I’m not sure I’d go as far as that. You’re not in a fashion coma either so I won’t complain too much. How you can pair a black tank top with a peacock on it with gold capris and not look hideous is one of the many great wonders of the world. Don’t do that around any of my friends or they might want to dissect you for the sake of fashion science. If they didn’t do that, they’d stand around dressing you in household goods and try to understand why nothing looks bad on you.” He pulled back from me and caught sight of Dale. “Do you think we have any chance of getting our girl here to embrace her inner New Yorker?” “Oh, she embraces New Yorkers all right. Especially the ones that view women as  

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disposable, easy lays. She embraces those just fine.” Dale’s voice dripped sarcasm. “Great, let’s just toss that out for group discussion, why don’t we. Hey, I just finished menstruating. Want to share that too?” Seth raised an eyebrow, giving me a questioning look. I shrugged, doing my best not to spit the nails I wanted to at Dale. Suddenly, Seth’s eyes lit. “It’s high time you dumped that womanizing bastard and got together with Dale. I don’t know what took the two of you so long. The sexual tension between the two of you can clear a room. And it’s been that way for years. Since you met, really. How you ever held back is a mystery to me. We all had a pool you know. I can’t be sure but I think Megan might have won. Hmm, maybe Paige did. That doesn’t matter though. I’m so happy for the two of you.” Dale and I both tried to cut in to correct Seth. He wasn’t having any of that. “Does this mean that someday Jeffrey and I will be uncles? Oh, think about it, tiny versions of everything. I’ll have to see if Versace has a line for babies. And you have at least six built in babysitters in the building. The two of you will make the cutest babies.” This was not even funny. Dale and I were not a couple. “Seth, we....” Seth nodded. “You’re right. Your parents would want the two of you married first. That will be fun too. I want total control over the reception. I could arrange everything just the way you two would like it. And you know the girls would love helping.” I tossed my hand over his mouth. He continued talking for a minute and then stopped. “Seth, Dale and I are not a couple. We have told you all before that we are just friends. I’m still with....” I stopped a second before spitting Charles’ name out. Slowly, I released my hand from Seth’s mouth and could see the disappointment in his eyes. “Elizabeth, what are you thinking? He’s not the right man for you. How he can sleep with a woman that’s young enough to be his daughter is disturbing. I’m only ten years older than you and I would never dream of touching you.” Because I’m not your type. Really, really not your type. Not once breaking his stride, Seth continued onward. “What the hell is his name again? Jeffrey and I always called him Mr. Flash.” My heart went to my throat. I knew exactly who Mr. Flash was—Charles. We’d run into Seth and Jeffrey several times while out and neither of them had taken to Charles. Not many people did. He was certainly an acquired taste. That’s why I had sworn anyone who knew I was seeing him to secrecy. Dale was the last person I wanted to find out. “It’s a name, Elizabeth, you can either give it to me or I can stand here and tell you what I really want to call him. Trust me. It’s not pretty.” “Charles Baum?” Dale asked, his voice harsh. Seth pointed at him, clucking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “That’s right, Smarmy Charlie. That one was all Jeffrey’s. It did get a lot of use around here. When we saw him groping you in public and the way he didn’t care that everyone knew he was mentally undressing you, it took everything in Jeffrey and me not to drag the man outside and beat the living crap out of him. He only wants one thing. And that necklace he was trying get you to take, the one that could have caused you to fall forward with all those diamonds on it, was something rich men buy for their mistresses. Check the handbook. It’s rule number three. I was so proud of you when you refused to accept it.” You had to bring the necklace into it. “Oh, there’s nothing going on with Charles and me. You aren’t buying into Walters’ smear campaign are you? He doesn’t look at me like that,” Dale said mockingly.  

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I froze as Dale tossed my words back at me, not only calling me out on lying but actually making me feel bad about it. I shot Seth a nasty look. He winked at me. Trust him not to care if he “outed” me. His dislike of Charles outweighed his concern for my feelings. He and Jeffrey were more protective of me than my own brothers. Funny, I moved away from home and still end up with men hovering over me, attempting to call the shots. I wondered if women everywhere suffered from this or if it was just me. Seth ran a hand over his velvet sports coat. “Have fun you two.” He turned to head back into his apartment. “Oh, and give her hell, Dale. He’s no good for her.” “Will do, Seth.” The minute Seth shut his door I assumed Dale would have at me. He didn’t. That was worse than getting one of his lectures. We walked silently down the hall. Each step made my stomach tighter and the tension in my shoulders worse. When I got to my door, I turned to him and slid my hand into his pocket. Pulling my keys out, I carefully avoided looking at Dale as I unlocked the door. Pushing my door open, the smell of cinnamon and spice hit me. I had a thing for scented bags of potpourri. I tucked them away in various places so no one could see them but they still let off a pleasant scent. As I dropped my keys into the tiny black wire basket on the antique table nearest the door, warm arms wrapped around me. Instinctively, I wanted to knock the person’s arms away, but I tended to react a bit differently than most women. Anger issues? Who me? Nah. “Dale, are you going to yell? You normally wouldn’t take news like that this well.” “I didn’t want to embarrass you. I thought I’d say this in private.” This was not going to be good. “I’m sorry I lied about Charles. I just don’t want everyone to know who I decide to share my bed with or his bed in this case.” “Funny, everyone else seemed to know. Why is it that I didn’t? I was kind of under the impression we were friends, best friends, Liz. Yet, you can’t even tell me that you’re sleeping with our boss. Guess we aren’t as close as I thought. You couldn’t find it....” “I didn’t want you to know.” “But it’s fine if everyone else does?” “It’s not like that.” I shook my head and tried to relax. “I don’t really care what they think about me, Dale. I care about what you think. More than I should.” That shut him up for a minute anyway. “Does Charles know we’re friends, outside of work?” You had to go there, didn’t you? I thought about lying, but that would only add to the problem at this point. “He ... umm ... well yes, sort of.” “He doesn’t. Does he?” Dale’s voice was a mixture of hurt, shock, and a whole lot of anger. “If we are really just friends, Elizabeth, why keep that a secret from him? And why keep him a secret from me? That’s something someone holds back from their significant other, not their best friend.” Does everyone have significant other on the mind today? The answering machine on the birch pedestal desk I picked up at a flea market for next to nothing blinked rapidly. I didn’t really care who called but it seemed like the perfect excuse to put distance between Dale and I. “I should probably check my--”  

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“No. You should turn your stubborn butt around and face me.” Twisting around, I faced him. I’d never seen Dale look so serious, so determined before. “Charles has never been married and has never kept a woman more than a few months. Even then, he’s dragging who knows how many other women around town at the same time. He spends endless amounts of money on them, parades them around his high society friends as a showpiece, then finds new models when he tires of the old ones. Is that what you are, Elizabeth? Are you one of Charlie’s showpieces? Are you a new or an old model?” Folding my arms over my chest, I glared at Dale. Did he even need to ask? “Do you honestly think I’d allow him to do that to me?” “I never thought you’d sleep with him to begin with. Shows what I know.” He narrowed his gaze on me. “How long has this been going on?” Captain, she can’t take much more. She’ll rip apart. Pull back on the thrusters and lie to the boy if you have to. Shaking the bad television parodies out of my head, I focused on Dale. There was no way I was about to offer up the exact amount of time I’d been seeing Charles. “For a while now.” “Let me guess, every night you had to stay ‘extra late’ at work, you were there with him. And each dinner date you’ve had lately has been with him too. Was he the one who was going to your reunion with you? He was, wasn’t he? You were going to spend your vacation with him, and take him home to meet your family when I haven’t even gotten to meet them yet?” His gaze darted to the side table and stopped on a picture of the two of us in Italy. Dale had his arms wrapped around me and I was looking up at him. He’d had it converted to black and white and framed in an antique iron frame for me. “God, were you two together while we were in Italy on business? Is that why you seemed to have a rather selective flu bug? Fine one minute, too tired to leave your room or have company the next. Aww, I was in the room next door, Liz!” “Tell me how this is any of your business.” “It’s my business because you are one of my closest friends. No. You are my closest friend. And before you start on that spiel you feed Paige whenever my name comes up, we are more than two people who get along like family and you damn well know it. I practically live with you and at no point have I ever considered you to be like a sister!” I grunted. Trust Dale to suck the joy out of my denial. “I like the bubble I live in. Leave me be. In fact, the view’s damn nice from this side. You should try it sometime. We could make popcorn and laugh at all the outsiders.” I stuck my bottom lip out and pouted, just enough to ease his mood. He was a sucker for that. He smiled. He might be an expert at pushing my buttons, but I was just as much of an expert when it came to him. “Promise you’ll at least tread lightly if you’re not going to break it off with him.” “Deal. And to make you feel better, I already told him that we need draw it to a close soon. It’s getting to be a bit more than I want. I’m beginning to the get the feeling that he’s looking for more from me than I’m willing to give.” I winked and flashed him a tiny smile. “Now, what are you wearing tonight?” That a girl. Get him talking clothes. He’ll forget all about Charles. “Not sure. What do you suggest? I’m not thinking we’re going anywhere fancy so I’m guessing I can get away with jeans. Plus, I know I have a few pairs over at Paige’s.” “You’ve got some here too. You really should get the apartment next door to me. You practically live in this building anyways. We could put a door between them so you wouldn’t even have to brave the hallway.”  

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“I know but do you know how long it took me to find a place I liked?” “Yeah, I do. But why are you spending close to four-thousand dollars a month when you spend at least five nights a week here with me? Hell, if it’s about a doorman, I can take you back down to the front door and teach you how to open it yourself.” “I can open a door just fine.” “Then let’s just pack and we’ll move into your apartment. It’s bigger.” Dale stared at me and tipped his head slightly. “You would move in with me? You’d leave everyone here?” I rolled my eyes. “I was going to make a joke about weaning you off us but I guess if you really wanted that, then yes. Besides, I’m not sure I can wean myself off you and I love being around everyone here. They kind of feel like our family, don’t you think?” “Our family?” “I get that Paige is actually your sister but no one here is a blood relative to me, yet I can’t picture my life without them.” He ran his hand over his pants and nodded slowly. “It’s good that they feel like your family.” It hit me that he thought I was excluding him from the group. In a way I was. “I can’t picture you out of my life either but it’s different with you. I guess I was speaking for us, not me when I said family.” “Different how?” I shrugged and tried to think of how best to explain how I felt about him. “Okay, don’t take this the wrong way but do you ever feel like we’ve been playing house for eight years?” Dale laughed softly but didn’t sound quite so happy. “Interesting way to look at it. Seems to trivialize it a bit, don’t you think?” “Well, my first version was that you feel like a husband I can’t remember marrying and never have sex with. Which one sounded better and which one would freak you out less? Hell, the play house one freaks me out less too. So, see, you’re a bit hard to lump in with everyone else. Now, if you’re feeling the onslaught of another case of German Measles coming on please tell me now so I don’t get cleaned up for nothing.” “Ha, ha, you’re not funny.” “Great, now that we’ve gotten past that, let’s get back to the topic at hand—what are we wearing tonight?” “In so many ways you’re the woman every man wants. Mention clothing and you go all vampiric on me, just like any other woman would. It’s a shame really.” Giving him a droll look, I kicked my pumps off and untied my blouse. I dropped it onto the floor and heard Dale grumbling behind me. “I’m not your maid. Damn, Liz. I’ve already told you to stop stripping in front of me. You’re sadistic.” “Thanks.” I unzipped my skirt and let it fall to the floor next. Dale gasped and I was fairly sure he’d just caught sight of my newest thong. “Umpf.” A little concerned about the bang I’d just heard and the rather odd sound that had come from Dale, I peeked behind me to see him holding his shin and glaring at my dark walnut coffee table. “Get a little distracted there?” Dale gave me a “well duh” look and went back to glaring at the coffee table. “You know, if I hadn’t lugged this damn thing up four flights of stairs I would chop it up and use it for  

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firewood.” “That’s great, but your fireplace is a gas one.” “Be quiet. I’m not talking to you until you stop running around naked in front of me. You do know that I have to look at you at work. The entire time we’re in a meeting I’m wondering what the hell you’re wearing under your outfit instead of listening to what’s going on. That’s wrong in ways I don’t want to think about.” “At least you know you’ve got a shot at finding out come the end of the day.” “That’s not really special anymore, is it? Charles knows too. He more than knows and more than finds out.” He shoots and scores. I did my best to pretend the comment didn’t bother me as I opened the door from my bedroom to my bathroom. I really wished the bathroom was accessible from the main room but the place was great so I didn’t complain. The fifties inspired metal white cabinets and white tiled walls with red grout shocked everyone who visited. I loved it. It was certainly me. I took my Gucci watch off and laid it carefully in a small open black leather case that held what little jewelry I liked to wear. It was my favorite and only watch. Its small, bracelet-like band, with silver clasps and its changeable colored bezels matched anything I paired it with. The watch had been a gift from Dale for my birthday several years back. A few weeks prior to my birthday, Dale had taken me out to help him look for a present for his then girlfriend. We’d spent hours out on the town before we agreed that a watch would be the perfect gift. Each one he suggested was too big and too expensive. I tried to bail out by admitting that my taste in watches was probably far different than a woman he’d date but he wouldn’t hear of letting me off the hook. When I’d finally selected one he laughed and told me to pick something else. He thought it wasn’t expensive enough and lacked a certain something. I kept coming back to the one I’d picked. When my birthday arrived, Dale spent the day with me and at the end of the night he gave me the watch I’d picked and a painting he’d had done for me. I pulled the silver rings from my fingers and deposited them into the box as well. I reached into the shower and turned the nozzles on full blast. Wrapping my hair into a loose bun, I grabbed a clip out of one of the tiny shelves under each cabinet and secured it. “Getting naked!” I shouted, warning Dale. Dale had once walked in on me completely nude and left immediately. My guess was he went to rub one out. He claimed he was embarrassed to face me. The sated look he’d worn on his face the next day lent validity to my theory. Though if I was right then that was just a bit more than I wanted to think about. After getting to feel his abs earlier, there was a better than average chance I’d be thinking of his body sinking into mine when I next masturbated. I stepped into the shower and pulled the red and white striped curtain closed. The hot water went to work on my tense shoulders, and I went to work on scrubbing myself. The smell of the honey soap Paige had picked up for me a week ago filled the area. I made a mental note to remember to ask her where exactly she got it from. I wanted more. Most things left my skin dry. This didn’t. “Coming in. I need to do a quick shave,” he called back to me. “Oh, please. Stop pretending you have facial hair. I’ve known you for years and have yet to see any.” He chuckled. The cabinet squeaked as he pulled his shaving supplies out. “I don’t have any facial hair because I shave my face twice a day.” “Umm, men don’t expect women to shave their legs twice a day do they?” The very idea of  

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having to stand and shave everything twice made me tired just thinking about it. If I wasn’t sleeping with Charles, I’d have given up bothering with shaving at all. Not really but if felt liberating to think it. I could get my legs waxed, but why? Lauren had spent years attempting to convince me waxing was the only to go. I spent equally as many years convincing her that it was a form of self-torture. She didn’t agree with me. Every time we got our bikini lines done, I spent the day in pain. Thinking of that covering my legs too made me shudder. “Even I wouldn’t wish that on you, Liz-B. With as long as your legs are, you’d spend three hours a day in there.” Liz-B. I hadn’t heard that from him in a while. Every now and then Dale would call me that. Especially when he was in a good mood or trying to get out of trouble with me. I preferred Liz, but people in New York seemed to prefer Elizabeth. Regardless how many times I corrected them, they still said it. I gave up long ago with the entire thing. Turning the knobs, I shut the water off and poked my head out. Dale stood in front of the oval mirror, lathering his face with shaving cream. His tawny muscles rippled as he moved. The white tank-like undershirt he now wore only helped emphasize how good a shape he was in. “Do you plan to stare at me all night or you going to get out and get dressed?” he asked as he tipped his head back and began to pull the razor down his neck. “I can if you really want me too but I forgot to grab a towel.” He laughed as he ran water over his Elsa Peretti’s sterling-silver razor. Why the man insisted on spending over three-hundred dollars on a razor was a mystery to me. If that wasn’t bad enough, he owned more than one. My generic pink plastic ones came in packs of ten for around three dollars and did their job. Men. No--strike that-- rich men.

 

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Chapter Five “Okay, pampered boy, give me a towel or I’m coming out naked.” Dale snatched a red terry-cloth towel off the shelf to his right and handed it to me. “I think you forget to grab towels just so you can watch me fetch things for you.” “You found me out, Fido.” I wrapped the towel around me and pinned it between my breasts. Stepping out of the shower, I looked at Dale and smiled. “Can I help you with that?” Pausing, he looked in the mirror at me. “You want to shave my face?” I nodded eagerly. “Remember that dream I told you about?” He chuckled. “Ah, the one where you have a beard and don’t know how to get rid of it. Yeah. Do you remember what I told you?” Rolling my eyes, I answer him in a drawn out voice. “Don’t eat chocolate before I go to bed.” “Yep.” “Well, can I?” Dale tipped his head back again and started on a new spot of his neck. “Can you what?” “Stand on my head and sing the national anthem, idiot. Can I try to shave your face, just once? I want to see what it’s like and I haven’t had the nerve to ask any men I’ve dated so far.” “But you feel comfortable enough to ask me?” He arched a brow and smiled. “I’m not dating you, am I?” “No, you aren’t. You are just a wife I can’t remember marrying and don’t have sex with.” I thought about that a minute. “I just realized you’re the only man that I’ve ever been this close to. There was a guy growing up that I thought was my closest guy friend until I met you. He has a big brother vibe to him. You don’t. I was good friends with a few others, but the minute anything progressed it was the kiss of death for our friendship.” Shrugging, I took a tiny step towards him. “Maybe that’s why I still like you after all these years. No sex.” “Wait. You’re telling me that you don’t stay friends with men you sleep with?” I bit back the “duh” at the tip of my tongue. “Since I’ve been here I’ve never dated a guy longer than a month. That’s barely enough time to learn the basics about them, let alone forge a lasting friendship with them. Plus, if I actually gave a crap about them I’d have stayed with them.” He took another swipe with the razor down his neck and continued to look at me in the mirror. “So you haven’t been with Smarmy Charlie longer than a month?” Oh, I opened myself up wide for that one. “Dating isn’t exactly a word I’d use to describe the situation there.” The look that came over Dale’s face was anything but pleasant. “I see.” Leave it alone. You’ll only dig yourself in deeper. I fondled with the edge of the white cabinet and pretended to not really care what he thought. “What do you expect? I need ... umm ... I need certain things too, Dale.” “Things?” There was no way he was letting me off the hook. “Sex, Dale. I need to have sex too. It’s not something reserved for everyone but me and there are only so many times a girl can take care of  

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the problem herself before her hand gets tired.” The look he shot me was sexy and questioning all at the same time. “I’m always here with you. When do you have time to...?” He looked down and smiled. “You do sleep you know.” “In the same bed as you most of the time.” I smiled wide, and he shook his head. “Great, I’ll never rest sound again. I’ll be thinking I’ll miss out if I shut my eyes. Thanks, Liz.” “See, that’s why I need certain things handled. I can only spend so long having you walk around in next to nothing, too, before I want to go tackle someone. I blame you for it. I’m fairly sure I could last at least a few months if I didn’t practically live with a Greek god.” “Greek god?” Dale grunted. “But why him? Why Baum? It’s not like you don’t go out with other guys all the time. Don’t they satisfy...?” I knocked a small basket of brushes over as I heard the words coming from his mouth. “Hold the phone, buddy. Do you honestly think I have sex with every man I go out with?” “No, I just assumed that....” I couldn’t hide my disappointment in him. How could he think I’d sleep with anything that moved? “You know, I’m working on having no problem bringing home a man I meet at a bar and screwing him regardless if I know his name or not. I haven’t had any luck with that yet. I can’t imagine having a man in my place, well, other than you. Plus, the idea of sex with a stranger doesn’t appeal to me. And don’t you dare start on me too. Lauren already makes fun of me enough for everyone.” I swirled my finger absently on a cool white tile. “I’ve explained a hundred times to her that I have had sex since I’ve been here. I’m not a nun. I think I’m too picky. No smartass comments from you about it either.” “So, do you have set guidelines or something? Do you take a checklist out with you?” he asked as he dipped his razor in the sink. “Do you? Why are we having this conversation?” “Because I’m curious as to why you’re with Charles, that’s all.” “Let’s talk about your sex life, shall we? Would you like to toss out numbers for this month alone? Or have you been using your ‘illnesses’ to keep them at bay?” Dale shifted and took a sudden interest in shaving again. “Still want to learn how to shave a guy?” Oh, now we change the subject. Jerk. “Still want me close to your throat with a razor?” He gulped. I smiled. Deciding to cut him some slack, I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Hand it over. I’ll give it a try.” Dale thought about it a moment before turning to me and handing me his razor. “Rule one: You cannot try to shave me. You must be confident you can shave me. I’m not about to go out on the town looking like road kill. Rule two: When you’re nervous, you’re clumsy. So come here.” I’d have yelled about the clumsy comment but it was true. I took a step and stood in front of him. “Okay, now what?” Dale grabbed hold of my waist. He lifted me quickly into the air. “Here you go,” he said as he set me up on the red counter. “See that’s better. There’s less of a chance you’ll trip over your own two feet if you aren’t on them, and I personally like my face the way it is so I’m not taking any chances.” Sucking my cheeks in slightly, I shot him a cocky look. “You’re really going to let me shave  

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you? You’re either really brave or incredibly stupid.” “I like to think of myself as incredibly trusting.” I shifted a bit, adjusting to the counter. I exhaled deeply and readied myself. “You’re going to need to move closer.” He stood against my bare knees and tipped his head back, keeping his eyes on me the whole time. He looked nervous, as he should be. I tried to reach him but he was a bit too far away for me to feel comfortable enough to put a razor to his throat. I grabbed his belt loop and opened my legs. He resisted my pull. “What are you doing?” “I’m pulling you closer. Why?” Dale backed away just a tiny bit but enough for me to feel it. “Umm ... err ... you’re only wearing a towel.” “You don’t say? I could have sworn I was in the latest Vera Wang dress but I could be wrong. It’s been a really long day.” Dale didn’t take the bait. Normally unable to resist a verbal test of wits, his sudden silence bothered me. He went to reach over me and ended up spreading my legs further until his body was settled directly between my thighs. He pulled back fast and shoved another red terry-cloth towel in my face. “Here, put this between your legs.” “What?” “Put the damn thing between your legs, Liz. The towel you have on now is a hairbreadth away from being jacked all the way up with your legs open. If you have a heart you will put the towel between your legs and keep yourself covered.” A bit shocked by his sudden outburst, I listened to him and draped the towel between my legs. “There. Happy now? God, you act like at any minute I’m going flip a red light on and begin to seduce you. You can relax. You may dislike a certain someone, but he serves his purpose well.” “I bet he does.” He took a deep breath and relaxed a bit. “Sorry, I just think the towel is best here, that’s all.” “I walk around almost naked in front of you all the time and we’ve known each other how long? Why’s it suddenly an issue?” “Not that naked.” Dale grabbed his bottle of shaving cream and put more in his hand. He covered his face again and smiled down at me. “Ready?” I dipped the razor into the sink basin full of hot water. Looking up at him, I smiled. “All set.” He tilted his head back, and I leaned forward. I put the razor right above his skin and stopped. Dale must have sensed my trepidation because he put his shaving cream covered hand over mine and placed the razor against his skin. I barely touched the silver handle while he pulled it down his neck. He then dipped the razor into the sink, taking my hand with him. “Now, are you ready to do it?” “Yes, but we’re both covered in cream now.” He arched a light brown brow. “Really?” “In case you’re wondering, I’m ignoring the sexual innuendo.” I dunked my hand in the water quickly, getting all the cream off my hands. I rubbed my hands over the towel draped between my legs to dry them. “Are you ready now? This stuff will dry on my face before you get to it.” Nodding, I took the razor and laid it against him gently. “Is that right?” He began to nod,  

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and I grabbed his cheeks, getting shaving cream on myself again. “Don’t move your head. Just grunt or something.” He smiled, and I took that as a sign to go on. I pulled the razor down his neck and breathed a sigh of relief when I completed that one tiny task without making him bleed. I returned to my task, concentrating so hard on him that I didn’t notice I’d done as much as I had. The only parts left were around his lips and his chin. I wiggled off the countertop and had to use my hips to press Dale back a bit. He hissed. “Did I hurt you?” “Nope,” he spit out, sounding a bit strained. I stood before him and inspected him for damage. Finding none, I decided to go ahead and finish what I’d started. “Are you going to help me around your mouth?” Dale just smiled. That equaled no. “How am I supposed to shave you if you’re grinning?” Instantly, he pulled his face slack, but the strain to keep from laughing was evident. “Have it your way.” I stood on my tiptoes and stared hard at his face, trying to figure out the best way to handle the situation. If it was anything like shaving my knees, Dale was screwed. I touched his lips and pulled down slightly on them in an attempt to see if it would give me more room to maneuver under his nose. It didn’t. I ran my fingers along the shaved portion of his cheek and examined his chin. Having a square face and slightly dimpled chin made him popular with the ladies but made me nervous as hell to put a razor anywhere near his mouth. “I can’t do it,” I said, holding the razor up for him. “I’m afraid I’ll cut your chin open or slice your lips. I really like them and would hate to know I injured them.” “Here, I’ll show you.” He took the razor from my hand and brought it to his face. I stood as tall as I could to watch how it was supposed to be done. He didn’t move. Glancing up, I found Dale staring at me. His emerald green eyes suddenly seemed a hell of a lot greener than they had earlier. Not wanting to dwell on that, I smiled. “Are you going to do it or what?” “Yeah,” he whispered before reaching past me and dipping his razor into the sink. In doing so, we were left nose to nose. “Yes, Liz, I’m going to do it.” The low, hushed tone Dale used caught me off guard. Maybe he was nervous having someone stare at him while he shaved. I watched him shave in some form daily. That couldn’t be it. He was probably still ticked about Charles. “Dale?” “Mmmhmm.” My eyes went to his lips as he hummed his answer to me. For some insane reason, I couldn’t look away from them. The temperature in the bathroom seemed to rise. I needed fresh air but my feet refused to respond to my commands to move. “I should ... umm ... I better ... what was I going to say?” Dale’s lips drew into a small grin, only making me focus on them harder. They were just lips. Why was I suddenly so fascinated by them? If that wasn’t bizarre enough, they were attached to Dale of all people. And I certainly was not attracted to Dale sexually. Right? He drew back from me slowly and I followed him, captivated with his mouth, not wanting to be any further from it than necessary. He chuckled softly. “If you want to go to dinner anytime soon then you’ll have to move back enough to let me finish.” Each word he uttered made my freakish new obsession worse. My breathing quickened, and I tried to remember what I was supposed to be doing. I came up empty.  

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“Liz, you okay?” “Is it really hot in here? Or is it just me?” The left-hand side of his mouth pulled higher. “Yes, it is hot in here. Must be because you just showered.” I nodded slightly. “Yeah, that must be it.” Dale moved close, leaving his lips practically pressed to mine. “Yeah, must be that.” The urge to close that tiny gap was strong. Suddenly, I felt dizzy. Closing my eyes slightly, I reached out and used Dale to steady myself. He wrapped an arm around me and held me steady. “Liz-B, you feeling okay? Do you want me to tell Paige that we’re going to take a rain check on dinner?” “I’m ... umm ... I’m fine, just a little warm.” “Are you coming down with something?” Dale’s voice held an edge of humor in it. Hearing it, I snapped out of my stupor. I stood tall and blinked several times. I went to take a step away and felt Dale’s arm tighten around me. “I’m fine, really. I think I need some fresh air.” “Really, that’s all, huh? Because it looked like you were about to pass out a minute ago.” Coming completely to my senses, I glared at him. “Pass out, huh?” He nodded as he finished the last few strokes around his mouth and chin. I waited until he’d rinsed his razor, wiped his face clean and drained the sink before I snatched his shaving cream bottle up and squirted some in my hand. Dale looked puzzled. “Liz?” I walked towards him and ran my tongue along my lower lip. “Pass out? Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe I was just thinking of a way to....” I didn’t finish my sentence. Instead, I rubbed the cream over his cheek, leaving a big clump of it stuck to him. He wiped it with his hand and gave a very unconvincing, angry look. “You think you’re clever, don’t you?” “I did figure out how to program the VCR before you did, so yeah, I think I’m clever.” Dale glanced at the shaving cream on his hand and then stared at me. Narrowing his eyes, he moved closer to me. “Mmmhmm, you sure did figure that out before me. But I figured something else out long before you.” I would have questioned him on his last comment but he inched towards the door and it hit me what he was about to do. A smile broke over my face. “Don’t you dare!’ “Oh, I dare.” The second he pushed the door shut, closing us in the bathroom together I knew what was coming. He’d see me good and covered in shaving cream for doing that to him. “What’s the matter, Liz?” he asked, slinking towards me. I pointed at his pants and tried to talk my way out of his attack. “You’ll stain your pants.” “It’s shaving cream,” he said wryly. “Still, it might stain and I’ve been shopping with you too many times to count. You buy the most expensive pair of pants you can find. Is getting back at me really worth ruining a pair of pants by....” I tried to figure out which pair of pants he had on today. “Dolce and Gabbana.” I nodded. “Right, so is it worth risking them to get back at lil’ ol’ me?” Dale’s cheeks dimpled as he smiled wide. “Lil’ ol’ you? Hmm, no you’re right. It’s not worth risking them.” Sighing, I went to walk past him. The minute his clean hand went to the front of his pants I shook my head. “You wouldn’t.”  

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In no time flat, Dale had his pants undone and was slipping them down his legs. He kicked them to the corner of the bathroom. I couldn’t help but stare at him in his grey cotton boxer briefs and white tank top. The man took exercising seriously and it showed. I gulped as I traced over the muscles on his upper thighs. “Liz? My face is up here.” I knew where his face was. Why the hell did he say that? I looked up at him fast and felt my cheeks beginning to redden. “Umm....” Dale lunged at me and I turned to run. Catching me around the waist, he lifted me and spun me around. I held tight to his arm but tried to wriggle free of him all the same. “Are you ready?” “Dale, don’t you dare.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his hand with the shaving cream in it coming straight for me. “No. If I have to wash my hair it’ll take forever to dry.” “Hey, I’m up for a night in and pizza. I hate the places Paige likes to eat.” “Dale.” I began to wiggle more, doing my best to squirm out of his clutches. He stopped moving and held me tight to him. I wasn’t positive, but it sounded like he moaned. “Put me down, you’ve hurt yourself.” He let go of me momentarily, and I seized the opportunity to run towards the door. Managing to get my hand wrapped around the doorknob, I felt victorious. “Oh, no you don’t.” Dale’s arm was suddenly around me. He spun me to face him a little too fast. My feet slipped out from under me. He grabbed for me and slipped too. I hit the floor first, followed closely by Dale as he landed on top of me, smashing the shaving cream into the floor instead of me. Pushing up on his chest, I tried to get him to move. “Uggh, you’re heavy. Get off....” The feel of something hard pressing against my lower abdomen stopped me in mid-sentence. When I realized it was Dale’s cock, I held my breath, unsure of what to do. It certainly wasn’t the first time a man was above me with a hard on. It was, however, the first time Dale was the man in question. Dale shifted slightly, planting his clothed erection firmly to me. I couldn’t move. Worse yet, I didn’t want to. Move, roll, yell for help. Do something! As usual, I ignored my inner voice. I locked eyes with him and instantly realized what a horrible mistake that was. “Dale?” His hot green gaze bore into me, making the heat problem in the bathroom sky rocket. Propping himself up on one arm, he dipped his head down and stopped when his nose touched mine. “What’s on your mind?” “Nothing that makes any sense.” “I can relate.” Our casual back and forth was filled with tension. Dale rubbed the tip of his nose over mine. “Hmm, this is ... umm ... a bit different.” I wanted to lean up just enough to capture his mouth with mine. I didn’t. My traitorous nipples gave into the lure of Dale’s body. They were hard in seconds. Thankfully, I had a thick towel covering them. Afraid that the towel may not be covering my breasts completely, I pulled it up hard and fast. Dale gasped and rubbed his lower body against me. His clothed erection felt a hell of a lot closer to my heated entrance than it had before. Ohmygod! I pulled the towel up too far!  

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Panicked, I began to wiggle hard to get out from under him. Dale growled and dropped his head down next to mine. “You aren’t helping here. The more you move, the more I can’t.” I froze. “Liz, you understand that I don’t have any control over certain areas of my body, right?” “Yes.” “So, you know that I’m not purposely ... err ... doing this?” “Of course you’re not doing it on purpose. Not once in all these years has anything like this happened. We can’t help if our bodies are doing what they naturally do when presented with a similar situation.” Dale tightened his stomach muscles and pulled his head up slowly. “Our bodies?” Ignoring his question, I pressed lightly on his shoulders. “You need to get off.” His eyes widened. “Get off me. Yes, me. It was a slip of the tongue.” Instantly, Dale’s tongue ran over his lower lip as his eyes flickered downward. I growled. “Are you going to take everything I say as a sexual reference?” “Well, you are pinned under me and for the most part naked. It’s hard not to.” “Give me the razor back. I’d like to try that again. This time with no guidance around your throat.” He wagged his eyebrows and offered me a grin filled with promises I didn’t want to think about. “Off.” Dale began to roll off, and I realized I was naked from the waist down and he was about to get a first hand view. Quickly, I grabbed hold of his shoulders and pulled him back to me. “On second thought, stay. Umm, I don’t have anything to cover myself with.” Dale smiled and my pulse sped. “You didn’t care about it when you were arguing with me about putting a towel between your legs.” Well, I didn’t have hot flashes every time I looked at you then. Refraining from saying what was on my mind, I twisted my head up and spotted the other towel on the floor. I reached for it. It was out of my reach but I wasn’t about to surrender. Stretching, I tried again. No luck. I just had a little bit further to go. Sliding my legs up and around Dale’s waist, I tried again only to feel him pressed firmly against my opening. “Liz,” he took a ragged breath, “what are you trying to do? If it’s kill me, then you are well on your way.” I did my best to concentrate on his words, not the size of his penis. It was damn impressive so it was difficult to think of much else. “I’m trying to reach the other towel. I can cover up with it when you get off me.” “Please stop. It’s making things way worse for me.” I pulled my arm back and adjusted to a more comfortable position under him. Instantly, my clit rubbed against his hard cock, making me gasp and my face hot. Dale ground himself against me lightly. A shockwave of pleasure surged through my lower body and left me wrapping my legs tightly around him. “Ahh,” he murmured as he moved slightly again. I grabbed hold of the backs of his arms, gripping him tightly. “Dale ... we ... we need to separate now.” “I can’t move or I would.” “What do you mean you can’t move? It’s easy. Just push off the floor and you’re done.”  

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He averted his gaze and his face flushed. “I know how to get off you. It’s the getting off without ... uhh ... actually ‘getting off’ that’s the issue here now.” My mouth fell open. I gave him a questioning look and tried to say something, anything. Only air came out. “Liz, don’t get pissed at me. I have no control of what’s going on.” “No control is right! Somehow, I thought you last longer than this when you’re doing your thing with women.” I lifted my head slightly and dropped it back against the tiled floor with a thud. “We aren’t even having sex and you’re having control issues.” Dale’s jaw tightened. “Excuse me, Ms. Perfect, but is it me or is it getting a little damp down there?” Thinking about what he’d just said, I realized he was right. I was wet. Not just damp but soaked. Why the hell was my body creaming while Dale was pressed against it? Didn’t it understand this was Dale? Obviously, it didn’t discriminate. “Grrr, fine, come and then we can figure out what to do.” “What?” Dale didn’t just look shocked, he looked slightly horrified. “I am not going to do anything of the sort!” He shook his head slightly. “Since I hit puberty, I’ve dreamed of a hot chick telling me to just do my thing. Now that I have it, I turn it down.” “Well, what do you propose? Should we just lay here until it finally gives up?” He laughed and rolled his green eyes. “It, as you call it, isn’t likely to go down while nestled between your legs, Elizabeth.” I lay under him, trying to figure out which was more humiliating, him seeing me half naked and glistening with cream he caused to flow, or having him just come and then making him move with me across the bathroom floor to get the other towel. A sudden attack of modesty made me pick the latter of the two. “Just finish. Then we’ll grab the towel.” “I am not about to just finish on you!” “Why? Am I not good enough?” What the hell was I talking about? I’d officially lost my mind. “Let’s recap, shall we? You admitted that you don’t stay friends with men you sleep with. Now, this doesn’t qualify as technically sleeping together but it’s not too far off. It’s very Clintonesque.” He glared at me. “And if you think I’m tossing eight years of friendship down the drain because of an accidental meeting, then you are sadly mistaken, Elizabeth.” Tell me how you really feel. “We’ll be fine. We’ve been friends way too long to let something this little come between us.” Dale rubbed his erection against me again. “Little?” My gaze darted around the bathroom, wanting to land anywhere but on Dale. “You know what I mean.” There was absolutely nothing little about Dale. I couldn’t even imagine trying to accommodate something the size of his penis. “At this rate, we’ll be on the floor forever. Oh, to hell with it.” Taking charge of the situation, I rotated my hips beneath him, stimulating myself as well as him. He stared down at me with confusion on his face. This was too weird for him. Hell, it was too weird for me. Grabbing hold of the back of his neck, I pulled Dale’s head down to me. “Liz...?” he asked a moment before I pressed my lips to his. Instantly, it felt as though I’d been struck by lightning. Dale’s mouth was so soft. He didn’t  

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respond to the kiss. I bit lightly on his lower lip, hoping it would prompt him to open for me. It did. His lips parted and I slid my tongue in. Dale’s greeted it and within seconds we’d found a rhythm that worked for us. Tiny swirls, each circling the other, our tongues danced a wellchoreographed dance with no music. I rubbed myself against him while tasting his sweet mouth. My body responded in ways that surprised me. Every piece of me was now extra sensitive, to the point it was more than noticeable. I also found that other senses were heightened as well. The smell of Dale was all around me, making me want to rub harder against him. I was suddenly aware that I was running my fingertips over the backs of his arms and his neck. When had I started that and why did he feel so good? Unable to pull them away due to how good Dale’s skin felt, I left them there. Each time he moved even slightly, another muscles rippled. It was more than easy to visualize his entire body rippling as he slid in and out of me. Closing my eyes tight, I did my best to push it out of my head and only ended up pushing harder against him. The cool tile pressed against my back was in sharp contrast to the heat coming from Dale. He seemed to radiate it. A light sheen of sweat covered his skin. Unable to help myself, I drew back from his lips and licked his neck lightly. “Liz,” he said, barely above a whisper. “We should stop.” “Uh-huh.” The salty taste of his skin left me nibbling, sucking, and nuzzling my face against his neck. The more I tried to pull away, the more I kissed him, ending up back at his mouth in no time. He moved his hard body against mine and slowly began to simulate sex, rippling just as I thought he would. Each swipe he took across my clit left me moaning softly into his mouth. Stay detached. This is a means to an end. And it’s Dale. Ignoring myself once again, I traced my way down his muscular back, taking extra care to outline each and every curve and bulge. The heat between us continued to rise to the point it was suffocating. It was too hot. Too much. Needing relief, I pushed slightly on Dale’s chest. “Up, just a bit.” He listened and raised his chest off me a hair. Slipping my arms under his, I went for my towel and undid it. Dale glanced down and stiffened. “Don’t, Liz.” “It’s too hot. You’re too hot.” Ignoring his request, I open the towel and pulled it to the sides of my body. Instantly, my hard nipples were pressed against his chest. Dale threw his head back. “Dammit, Liz.” Reaching for him, I ran my hands up his neck and into his hair. I tugged gently and he looked down at me. “I’m sorry. I was hot.” He rolled his eyes and laughed softly. “Do you think I’m not? I can’t....” The impulse to have his bare chest against mine was too hard to resist. I pulled on his white muscle shirt, slowly inching it up his body. The question in his eyes looked exactly how I felt. Why was I doing this? Dale dipped his head down and lifted one arm at a time, allowing me to take his shirt off completely. “Liz, I can’t lay against you, when you’re naked and I’m in next to nothing. Hell, I can’t even look down because I’m afraid of what will happen to my control if I see your breasts under me.” “We should stop then,” I offered, secretly praying he’d say no. Dale sucked the corner of his lip in and nodded. My stomach dropped. Tipping his head down, he sighed. I went to slide out from under him and his head dropped suddenly. This time, it wasn’t my lips he captured.  

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Fire shot through me as Dale drew my nipple into his mouth, tugging on it gently, leaving me moaning, confused, and needing more. He ran his fingertips over my other nipple before rolling it ever so tenderly. Tiny sparks of passion moved through me, actively seeking my womb. Cream trickled down my inner thighs and I knew we should stop. Hell, I knew we should separate to opposite ends of the city and soon. My brain screamed at me to pull Dale away. Instead, I pulled him tighter to me. Dale was so gentle with me, as though he were afraid I’d break. The pleasure continued to build as he moved his mouth to my other breast, teasing and taunting my nipple until I writhed beneath him. I needed to escape the pleasure, run to avoid demanding he take me and fuck me— which was what my body craved. He sucked harder. “Dale....” He looked up at me through hooded lids and freed my nipple. He planted tiny kisses on the underside of my breast and edged his way to my stomach, maintaining eye contact with me the entire time. It was so incredibly erotic to see him in that position, in that light that I just stared at him as he went. Kissing his way down, past my navel, he lifted his head and gave me the smile I loved so much. It hit me then. This was Dale, my Dale, my best friend. I tried to sit up but only made it to my elbows. Dale began to slide down further. “No, stop.” The hurt look on his face broke my heart. “You don’t want me down here, I get it. I’m sorry....” “I want you to stop because I do want you there. Way, way more than I should. We’ve already crossed the line, Dale. And I don’t want to lose you.” He stayed there, quiet for a moment, and I started to worry. No emotion showed on his face, and I wanted to scream at him to talk to me. “Liz, do you want to stop? I think we’re past the point of modesty now so getting up and seeing you completely naked is no longer an issue. Just tell me to stop and I will.” Yes, you want him to stop. It’s Dale and you’re not attracted to Dale. “Do you want to stop?” Why in the hell did I ask him that? The muscles in his corded neck flexed as his jaw tightened. He nodded slightly and then quickly turned it into shaking his head no. “I know I should. But now’s not the best time for me to be making a decision. I’m hard as a fucking rock. I’m about two inches from heaven and I can smell you, Liz. I can smell your sex and the scent is driving me crazy right now. I’m not sure how I haven’t already dug my face in it.” Shocked by his brutal honesty, my mouth fell open. “Dale!” He gave me a bad boy grin and shrugged. “Just stating the reasons why I can’t make any decisions. There’s also the fact that I’m staring up your gorgeous, mouth-watering body, knowing that I caused your cheeks and chest to flush like that. And that makes me wonder how you’ll look if we finish this. Really, I shouldn’t be consulted in the decision making process.” Dale’s words ran over me like a feather, making me squirm slightly while serving to increase my arousal. Just looking down at him, almost all the way between my legs made my body tightened with an eagerness to guide him lower and let him do what he wanted to do--bury his face in me. And then I wanted to pull him up and explore his body inch for inch. This had to stop and I knew it. But I couldn’t just send him away now. It would hurt him, and I knew it would hurt me. “Come here.”  

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Dale went on all fours and dropped his head down fast, licking my slit long and hard. I jerked upright and gasped as my entire lower body jolted. He looked up at me, his green eyes wouldn’t let me look away, wouldn’t let me move or protest. Not that I even remembered I’d wanted to. “I had a feeling you kept yours shaved. You wear some little underwear and well, let’s just say I’m happy to see I was right.” I gave him a warning look and he winked at me before rising to sit on his knees. He just sat there, staring at me to the point that I couldn’t decided if I wanted to cover myself or open my legs wide to him. The latter was fast winning. His cock was still erect, causing his boxer briefs to tent outward. He was so close. He could have entered at anytime. But he didn’t. He was so perfect, so sculpted and hard yet so tender and gentle. Had my Dale always been this way? My Dale? Dale took of his clothed erection and rubbed it over my clit. I gasped. The corner of his mouth lifted as he leaned forward and began to crawl his way back up my body. When his face was directly above mine, he stopped and dropped down on me, pressing his thick erection against the pad of my pussy as he went. “Dale....” “Mmmhmm.” “We can’t.” Rotating his hips, Dale struck my clit, and I wrapped my arms and legs around him tight. I pulled him to me and held him tight as he continued to rub against me. Shallow breaths came from me, and I tried to control my thoughts, emotions, reactions. I couldn’t. Dale had full control now. Purring in my ear, he made my entire body try to fold into itself. As I swiveled my hips, I countered his motion, making the pressure inside me that I’d hoped had passed spring to life. “Kiss me,” I whispered. Dale’s mouth found mine, and I closed my eyes, allowing him to lead while we lay on the cold tile floor, rubbing against one another. Everything on me tingled, even my fingertips. I ran my hands through Dale’s hair as I ate at his mouth, wanting to devour it with my own. He stopped rubbing and started rocking softly while staying in one place. My orgasm seized hold of me. I tightened my legs around him and tossed my head back, breaking our kiss. Moaning, I had to focus on not crying out. He chuckled, in a deep sexy manner and placed tiny kisses on my neck, driving me wild as my pussy quaked and moisture oozed from it. Moaning, I could do nothing more than hold his head to me as I let the orgasm take its course. Dale slid down a bit and moved his groin back from mine. He couldn’t go yet. I needed him to finish. It didn’t matter that we shouldn’t be doing this and that we’d already gone too far. All that mattered was that Dale was happy. I rose slightly too, pressing on the front of his shoulder, making him lean to the side a bit. Capturing his mouth with mine, I pushed harder on his shoulder and twisted my body with him. We rolled fast, leaving Dale pinned under me. Exactly as he’d been on his bed. Only now, making him laugh wasn’t my object. My new goal was to make him come. While it wasn’t a mission I’d ever envisioned I’d have, I accepted it with an eagerness that surprised me. I rubbed my saturated slit against his clothed cock. His hands came to my hips and he began to guide my thrusts. Dropping my head down, I kissed him hard, not worrying about going full force with my mouth. I just wanted to be as close to him as possible. Dale broke the kiss and shifted under me. “Ahh, I need to adjust, Liz. It’s pinned a little tight right this second.  

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I went to move off him and he grabbed me. “Don’t go, just give me a minute.” Reaching down, he adjusted his twisted briefs, allowing his member some breathing room. “Do you want me to take them off you?” I asked, staring down at the grey material that now had large wet spots covering it. Dale shook his head and his eyes widened. “No. I won’t be able to stop if there’s nothing between us.” “Are you sure?” “Liz-B, I’m positive.” Taking his word, I positioned my body back over his. Before I settled down on him, I bent my head and kissed his full lips again. They had a strange power over me now. So full, so close. Just the slightest feel of them brushing mine had made my body tingle. Now, seeing what happened when I actually kissed them with passion I silently swore to stay away from them when we were done. Lowering myself slowly, I felt the head of his clothed cock press against my opening. The urge to slide the material out of the way was fast consuming me. This was Dale, yet I could fully see myself riding him. Focusing, I tried to hold back, yet still saw the image of it in my head, making me want it even more. “Uhh, I want to feel you in me, Dale.” Dale grabbed my hips and went to lift me off. I pushed down and cried out as the plum-sized head of his cock spread me to the brink. The wet cloth encasing his shaft allowed it to slide in easily. “Oh God, Liz. Off, off or I’ll come now. I’ll come in you.” I knew I should get off. I also knew we shouldn’t have done all that we already had. Besides, his cock wasn’t actually touching me, so did it really count? I knew the answer to that already but chose to ignore it. Pushing down more, I was only able to get a quarter of the way down before he ran out of extra material. “Liz, off now!” Dale’s gaze went downwards. Mine followed. There I saw us joined. Well, almost joined. My pussy lips spread over the top portion of his cock. Dale’s underwear was tented to the point I thought they’d rip. When I looked back up, Dale was staring at me. “Let me take them off you so you can go deeper in me.” Dale’s breathing grew shallow as I pushed down more. Sliding my hands between our bodies, I lifted a bit and tried to free the tip of his shaft from its confines. Dale seized hold of my wrist and stopped me. “Liz, you don’t want this.” “I want to feel your cock buried deep within me, Dale. I want to ride it, ride you until you come in me.” For a moment, I thought he might pop a vein in his neck from the way he was straining. He released my wrist and slid his hand between us. He didn’t move to free himself from his clothed confines. Instead, he began to rub my clit with his fingers. I increased my thrusts on him and his mouth opened but no sound came out. “Please let me take them off, Dale. I want to fuck you and then I want you to fuck me.” Dale jerked. The force of his hard erection pressing against the wet cloth within me and the feel of his fingers pressed against my clit pushed me over the edge. My lower abdomen tightened. My body clenched and pulled, grasping where there should have been more cock  

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buried. I dropped my head down and Dale’s lips crashed into mine. He thrust his tongue in at the same moment I hit my zenith. Crying out in his mouth, I jerked my hips above him as my orgasm ripped through me, flowing though my legs, my abdomen, even through my over stimulated breasts. I lifted my hips higher and made straight line, rapid thrusts on him, doing my best to provide him what stimulation he would all while still in underwear. Dale stiffened and his cock twitched. He seized hold of my hips and lifted me until his cock was free of me. Pulling me down quickly, he held me tight to him as he continued to kiss me. Instantly, my belly was warm and wet. I knew he was done, but I couldn’t pull my mouth away from him. I didn’t want to pull away. He seemed to be having the same problem. I’m not sure how long we stayed that way but when we were done, Dale was no longer hard enough to hammer nails into the wall and I was more sated than I’d ever been. I broke away from our kiss slowly and looked down at him searching for signs of regret. When I found none, I relaxed. “Well, that certainly did the trick to get you to finish.” “Liz, I’m sorry ... I didn’t mean to....” “Dale, stop right now. It was what it was. Period. We didn’t plan it. It’s human nature to respond the way our bodies did. I’m not upset with you or myself for that matter. I don’t think less of you and I can only hope you don’t think less of me. I will not allow this to change our friendship. In fact it will only strengthen it.” Now, if only I believed what I’d just told him we’d be all set. His brow furrowed. “Strengthen it how?” I smiled wickedly. “I’ll now understand why the girls you go out with have that lost puppy look whenever I see one after you’ve....” I glanced downwards and wagged my eyebrows. “ ... spent an evening with them.” Dale was quiet for a moment. As he stared at me, I wondered what was running through his mind. Before I had a chance to ask, he propped himself up. “Shower?” he asked as he rolled off me, snatched the extra towel and tossed it back at me as he got to his feet. I covered myself and stood slowly. “Yes, but we should probably take separate ones,” I said, smiling mischievously. “Agreed. And let this be a lesson as to why you should keep a towel between your legs when you’re on the sink.” “Hmm, I think after that rather interesting shaving lesson you just gave me there’s no point in worrying now.” His hot gaze raked over me. “You do realize that we’re a bit ... err ... messy now.” Glancing down, I wrinkled my face up. “Do you mind if I shower first? This stuff is really runny and sticky.” The manly chuckle that came from Dale made some of my worries fade away. “I think that’s a really good idea.”

 

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Chapter Six Dale walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and beads of water glistening on his tawny chest. I’d never noticed how good he looked wet before. Hmm, odd. I would have dwelled on it, but I was still trying to come to terms with what we’d done twenty minutes earlier. “You should wear your dark grey cashmere ribbed crew sweater.” “Jeans or slacks?” he asked, not seeming to care that he was driving me crazy in just a towel. He might as well run around the room naked for all the good that did. “Jeans. There’s a pair of Helmut Lang’s in your bottom drawer.” Dale flashed me a good ol’ boy smile. “You’re too good to me.” “I know. Find a wife so I can get a break.” He paused and held my gaze. Something odd passed over his face before he grinned. “I’m working on it.” “Not hard enough.” “Hey, you try being a ‘nice’ single guy in New York City. Women claim they want men they can trust yet they all seem to flock to the bad boys.” I snatched my vanilla scented body lotion from the top of the oversized white-washed armoire that I used to hide the television in my room. Popping the cap open, I deposited a dollop of it into the palm of my hand and went to work applying it. “That’s not true.” “Then how do you explain Charles? Seems like you headed straight to the biggest womanizing prick you could find.” I set myself up for that one. Maybe next time I could just kick myself and save Dale the time. I put the lotion back and pretended not to care what he thought of me. “If you’d be so kind as to step off your soapbox for a moment to give me your opinion on what I should wear, that would be great.” “Ever the smartass.” “Ever a candidate for Mother Teresa’s replacement.” Dale laughed as I headed towards the L-shaped area that served as my closet. It consisted of two wardrobes, an ash one I’d found at an auction and a burr-maple one. Both had been in poor shape but Paige and Dale helped me fix them up. Now they were beautiful. The biggest expense in redoing them had been having a full-length mirror custom made to fit the pre-existing space in the middle section of the burr-maple one. A six drawer dresser sat next to it. That piece I’d bought new from a knockoff store. It matched the other two pieces and held my clothes in it fine. I considered it a success. Opening the door to the ash wardrobe, I stood with my hand on my hip, looking in. It was times like this that I realized I might have a slight addiction to clothing. Afraid to brave going in just yet, I called out to Dale, “Any suggestions for me?” “How about the royal blue, silk cami? You know, the one that has that sheer layer and then another layer beneath it. Not the one with the silver studs on it but the one that cups your breasts. I haven’t seen you wear that in a while.” Just like a man—go for the least amount of clothing. “You mean the blue one you got me? “  

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“I didn’t get you that, did I?” “Yes.” Dale laughed. “I think I’d remember giving you that, especially considering how ... uhh ... nice it looks on you.” “You did buy it for me. It was the week after I’d gotten over bronchitis and you insisted I get out of the house. Entering the land of the living was the theme for the day. We spent the day walking and when you saw it in a display window you went in and bought it. You then spent an hour trying to convince me to put it on in the middle of the street so you could see how it looked on me.” He grunted. “How the hell do you remember that? You’ve got no memory. Need I remind you of Lauren and the cell phone issue?” Rolling my eyes, I bit back a snide remark. “I remember everything you’ve ever done for me. I even remember that day I first met you. I’d gotten in for the summer as an intern at Baum, and I was so nervous that I was making myself sick. You crouched down next to my chair, introduced yourself and told me not to worry. The only people who had a tendency to bite were all in the layout department so I was safe. And if anyone gave me trouble to come to you and you’d handle it.” I absently searched through my dresser for no real reason. “And later that day I was trying to figure out the copier and having no success. I got nervous and accidentally dumped all the files I needed to copy on the floor. You appeared out of nowhere, helped me pick them up, and winked at me before walking off. See, I do have a good memory. Stop telling me I don’t.” Dale didn’t respond, and I tried to figure out why. He was no doubt trying to think of a new thing to pick on me about. “I’m surprised you remember all of that about me. Sometimes, it seems like you don’t even notice I’m around.” My brows drew together. “Pierce Dale Corbin....” I went to yell at him that I notice him all the time but stopped. He was right. At times I forgot I was in the same room with him. I was that comfortable with him. “See, you can’t even lie and say you do.” I glared at him. “Would you please shut-up long enough for me to respond? I was trying to think of a way to explain it.” Dale chuckled. “I’ll make it easy for you. You forget I’m around.” “I do not! I always know when you’re there, even when you think I don’t.” “Bullshit. I could bring a marching band with me and you still would keep going about your business unfazed.” I couldn’t help but laugh. He was being ridiculous. “Dale, I know when you’re there because it feels different then when you’re gone. I can’t explain it. It’s like something is missing. It nags at me and the minute you’re back around it leaves. But my point had originally been that I do have a good memory.” “I’ll give on that one. Though, how anyone remembers all that much about someone is a mystery.” “Don’t even try to pretend you aren’t the same way.” He laughed. “Whatever do you mean?” “There is a picture hanging directly behind me that you had done for my birthday.” I looked back at the painting in question. “Yeah, so what. I had a painting done for you, big deal. Where I come from, people do that sort of thing all the time.”  

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I wasn’t about to let him off the hook that easily. “Right, so tell me, is having every tiny detail I ever mentioned about where I grew up included in the painting normal too? I mean, you even had them put the birdhouse that my brothers helped me make next to the white woodshed that I pretended was a castle. You even made sure the birdhouse was painted every color of the rainbow because I told you that I thought it would be pretty and forced my brothers to let me do it. Now, don’t tell me you don’t remember things about me.” “So, are you going with the blue cami?” Dale asked, obviously changing the subject. “Yes. Jeans or white slacks?” “Jeans.” “Thanks!” I rifled through the articles in the wardrobe until I found the silk cami Dale had bought me and pulled it out. I pushed the mosquito netting that draped over my bed out of the way and laid the blue top on the white down comforter. I adjusted the pale pink and yellow pillows so they weren’t falling to the middle of the bed. As I took a step back, I bumped one of two identical bedside tables and almost sent one of the mica scroll lamps I’d debated on buying for close to a month to the floor. Somehow, I managed to not only catch it but refrain from smashing against the wall which would have been a very me thing to do. Heading to the dresser, I opened my top drawer, fumbled around a bit and grabbed a navy thong. I stepped into it and pulled it on while still trying to keep my towel up. Hey, I’m getting good at this. As soon as I thought it, my towel came loose and fell to the floor before I could grab it. “Let me see this top you claim I got for you. I may still be right ... Holy shit, Elizabeth,” Dale said, putting his hands over his eyes and spinning around fast. “You could warn a guy that you’re ... you know. Especially after what happened. A guy can only take so much and I’ll be damned if I toss you on the floor and....” “Yoohoo, anyone home?” Neither one of us got a word out before Dale’s sister Paige poked her head around the corner. I covered my breasts and Dale just stood there wearing only a towel. Paige’s face lit up. “You two are intimate, aren’t you?” “It’s now referred to as screwing, sis, but we’ll let you say it your way. Lord knows you’ll beat me over the head with your pink Prada bag if I dare correct you.” Shaking my head, I snatched the blue top off my bed and went to work putting it on. “No. Dale and I are not having....” I stopped short of saying sex. Only because I wasn’t exactly sure if the shaving thing counted. Denial was one of my strongest traits. “Umm ... we’re just friends.” “Hmm, pity,” Paige said matter-of-factly, her tone as refined as ever. Dale snorted and ran a hand through his light brown hair. “Are you telling me you want Liz and me to get together?” “Of course, we all do.” Pieces of her long, light blonde hair fell loose from the twist on her head. They framed her tanned, heart shaped face, making her look even more sexy than usual. Being one of those women who don’t even know they’re beautiful only added to Paige’s charm. She was virginal in a not really still a virgin kind of way. An auctioneer by day, an innocent looking sorority girl by night. Every man’s fantasy. She also had an uncanny ability to talk sex with the best of them. She was just sparing her brother. Dale stayed facing forward but leaned to the side. He rifled around one the drawers in the ash wardrobe. “Here,” he said, tossing a pair of low-rise, boot-cut jeans at me. “Those will work. Where are your sling back silver heels?”  

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Paige wrinkled her button nose and shook her head as she stared at her brother. “Wow, you two dress each other how cute. Do you pack his lunch for him, Elizabeth?” Dale grunted and looked back at me with an “I’m sorry” look. A smile broke over his face as his gaze ran over me. “I guess I did get you that one. I have incredibly good taste.” “It’s disturbing when your brother knows more about fashion than you do. Please marry him, Elizabeth. Other women may not understand he’s available. They’ll start putting two and two together.” “It already feels like we are married, and frankly I’d like to pass him on to another woman to deal with for awhile. He’s very demanding. And very insecure. He thinks I don’t ever notice him. Plus, he snores.” I smiled at Dale as he looked back and gave me a pseudo upset look. “Oh, Dale you should see if Walters can hook you up with the buying a bride thing. Be sure to tell her you’re practically a saint and a walking fashion guru. They probably have rules about disclosing any annoying traits. You might luck out and get a life-sized doll that you can dress any way you want.” “I already have one of those—you.” I laughed. “You’d be smart to stick with women who believe the German measles stories.” “And you, Elizabeth my dear, need a very, very patient man.” I adjusted the drawers and wrinkled my face. “What is that supposed to mean?” “The fact you have to ask only proves my point.” He looked at Paige. “And you, pipsqueak, can stop right now. I may understand the new trends and take an interest in my appearance but that doesn’t make me any different than half the men in this city. Oh, and I also happen to know that shirt is too tight for you.” He grabbed the red towel off the floor and tossed it at Paige. I glanced at Paige to see what Dale was talking about. Paige had a set of breasts that any woman would envy. The light pink, silk blouse she wore fit her snugly. And the tiny strip of white lace that showed where she’d left several buttons undone emphasized her cleavage even more. A tiny bit of her midriff showed. The dark colored jeans she wore were also slim fitting. They looked fabulous tucked down far into Paige’s pink leather boots. The boots were made to look as though they were pushed down a bit, sort of scrunched. They stopped just under her knee. The tapered toe and two inch stiletto heel really made them stand out. “I think you look gorgeous, Paige. Your top is looser than mine and he’s the one who bought it for me. Just ignore him. Apparently, that’s all I do to him so hop on over and join me. It’s fun. He’s cute when he’s mad. He even gets this little tic at corner of his mouth if you really piss him off.” “Oh, like I want men ogling at my sister’s assets. She is permanently five in my mind. The very fact she even has assets is extremely disturbing.” Paige huffed and gave Dale a slight push. He tumbled back into me as I was trying to slip my heels on. We both tumbled onto the bed. Dale pushed out, attempting to remove the mosquito netting that had ensnared him. “Help, Liz’s bed ate me--again.” “Don’t worry. It’ll spit you out. The indigestion you’d cause it isn’t worth the effort,” Paige shot back. The girl gave as good as she got and I adored her for it. She looked mild mannered and sweet. In many ways she was. But cross her and there’d be hell to pay. Pushing myself off the bed, I grabbed hold of the netting, untangling Dale and almost undoing his towel as well. He grabbed it and our gazes met. Heat flared through me. I glanced away from his hot stare and slowly pulled back from him. “You’re free, against my better  

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judgment, of course.” Dale laughed as he stood. “Gee, it’s so wonderful to be loved by the two of you.” “I called for a cab. It should be here soon. We’re still planning on grabbing a bite to eat before heading out to dance, aren’t we?” Paige looked directly at me, knowing Dale would only defer to me anyways. “Umm, dance? Somehow, I don’t remember that coming up. Maybe it did and I just blocked it.” Paige puckered her lips and looked as though she’d burst into tears if I dared say no. “Dale, how does dancing sound to you?” Please say you don’t want to go. He shrugged. “Sounds fine.” Great. I peeked around him and stared at Paige. “We are still eating first, right? I’m starving.” Dale glanced back at me with a smirk I almost wanted to smack off him. “You’re always starving.” “Don’t make me push you back into the netting, fly boy.” I patted his firm butt on the way past him and instantly thought of how wonderful it felt without the towel covering it. Heat moved through me again. It was fast becoming a habit where Dale was concerned. “I need to grab a glass of really cold water, then I’ll meet you at the cab.” Glancing over my shoulder, I caught Dale’s attention. “Can you handle locking up?” “I don’t know. That’s a really big task,” he said sardonically. My gaze fell to the front of his towel. “Uh-huh, big. I agree.” When I looked up, he was staring at me. The knowing smile on his face sent that new chronic heat problem right back through me. I was going to need to make that glass of water an extra large for sure.

 

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Chapter Seven Dale nudged my knee as I stared at the menu. “Decide what you want yet?” I huffed and blew a piece of dark hair out of my face. “No.” “You don’t see anything that looks good?” No, all I saw was a hodgepodge of things I’d never even heard of. And I really didn’t need or want my food piled pretty in the center of my plate with something drizzled over it. Maybe it was because my family ate meatloaf. The thought of my father eating here lightened my mood dramatically. He didn’t like it when my mother put pineapple on the ham. He’d never go for this. Dale rubbed my leg and heat flared through it. He’d done that a million times before and it had never caused that reaction. “Find anything you want yet?” My body tried its best to move closer to him. Apparently, it had selected something that was off the menu but very close. Thankfully, my mind still maintained control. Granted, it was holding on by a thread, but holding on all the same. Dale began to make tiny circles on my inner leg. My eyes went to Paige. Could she see him? Could she read on my face what was going on inside me? She said she wanted Dale and me together. But did she really mean it? Whoa, hold up. You do not have feelings for Dale. As I looked at him I found myself visually tracing his profile and wondering why he suddenly looked so different to me. “Did you change your hair or something?” Dale baulked. “No, why?” “You just look different that’s all.” A cunning smile unfolded on his smooth face. “Do I? Hmm, I wonder why?” Me too. I studied him a bit longer than I should have but there was certainly something different about him. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I didn’t want Dale to think I was ogling him so I looked away. The restaurant Paige had picked wasn’t one I would have selected. It was a bit more upscale then I enjoyed. How we were in allowed in wearing jeans was beyond me. So far, I’d read the menu twice and not one damn thing on it appealed to me. “Anything yet?” Dale asked, adding another squeeze to my leg. “Umm, does that say duck gizzards?” My stomach knotted. Dale snickered. “Yes and from the look on your face you should go with something else. Though, they aren’t bad at all.” My nostrils flared and my nose crinkled. “Yuck.” He just smiled. I swear, the man could find amusement in just about anything. It was a sickness really. I don’t think they had any remedy for that at least not yet. “Did you two decide what you’re getting yet?” Paige asked. She was still mauling over the menu as well. “Karen, from work, told me about this place. I’ve been dying to try it. Interesting décor.” She could say that again. The walls were not just white they were so bright that I’d had to look away fearing I’d damage my eyes without the proper eyewear. The grey marble columns that ran around the outskirts of the large dining area helped to break it up a bit. But the odd, large  

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crimson sculptures placed throughout the room were a bit distracting. Every person who worked there looked identical to the other. Male, female it didn’t matter, each had their hair slicked back from their face and tied tight. Everyone had a white cotton top on and the same charcoal grey slacks. I get that they were going for a clean chic look but they were coming off as militant. “Hello? You two? Have you decided what you want? I so enjoy having to ask twice.” Paige wasn’t one that liked being ignored. I’m surprised that was all she’d said. “We enjoy making you ask twice, so it works out well all around. Don’t you think?” Dale, the master of provoking Paige outbursts, was dangerously close to setting her off. Heading off a potentially embarrassing scene, I flipped my hair back and leaned in towards Paige. “What are you getting? Every time we’re out and your plate comes I always wish I’d have gotten that.” Liar. Dale flicked my leg lightly. He knew what I was doing. Paige seemed to forget about Dale for a moment and that was a good thing. “I’m going with the cheese-stuffed artichokes.” Skimming over the menu, I found what she was talking about. “Can I ask a question and not have you laugh at me ... Dale?” “I’ll do my best. Can’t promise anything though.” That was what I figured. Well, it was worth a shot. I could have gotten lucky. Of course, I could have also won the state lottery. Winning the lottery was much more likely to occur. Paige set her menu down and took a sip of ice water. “What’s your question, hon?” “What is Bolognese sauce?” “Don’t they have that down on the farm?” Dale asked. I shot Dale a nasty look and he kept smiling. At random points of the day I often wanted to smack the expression off his face. Now, was one of those moments. “It’s got fresh tomatoes in it, some herbs, a drizzle of vinaigrette and theirs has a bit of cucumber in it.” Paige gave me a warm look and I knew she felt bad about Dale’s teasing. “Don’t worry, Elizabeth. There are loads of people out there who have no clue what that is.” Dale snickered. That only meant he had another comeback prepared. “Yes, Paige, and all those people who don’t know are Liz’s neighbors back home.” My temper began to rumble just below the surface. If he continued he’d cause an eruption and I’m positive he would not like that. I wasn’t sure why his normal razzing suddenly seemed to sting but it didn’t matter. I focused on the cross-hatch pattern of the white linen tablecloth rather than pushing Dale out of his chair. “Knock it off, Dale. I’m tired of hearing you pick on her about where she comes from. I can only imagine how she feels.” I thought for a moment that Paige might throw something at Dale. And if she did, I sure wouldn’t try to stop it from hitting. Maybe she’d get lucky and nail him between the eyes. Dale nudged my leg with his. “Liz knows I’m just kidding. Don’t you, Liz?” Just because I knew he was only joking didn’t make me like it any better. No part of me was ashamed of my upbringing. There was nothing wrong with Ohio, the farm, the people in the community and my non-existent accent. I looked at the menu and ignored his question. “So, what are you going to get?” Paige giggled. “Ouch! She pulled a change of topic rather than answer. Every time she and I double date, she does that the minute the guy I normally set her up with starts to annoy her. That’s her signature move. Any time I hear it, I cringe and wait for her to drop the axe and cut  

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him loose.” Gee, thanks for spelling it out for everyone. I could feel Dale staring at me. My cheeks flushed and I found myself staring at the menu without really seeing it. “Are you prepared to order?” a rather high voice asked. The server that stood to the side of Paige looked like she had as much personality as a wet paper towel. Paige fluttered her hand in the air. “Not yet. Thank you though.” “Liz-B?” Dale asked, sounding slightly concerned. “You know that I don’t mean it, right?” Oh, yank that one out to calm me down. When in trouble, pull out the cute nickname. Very mature. I didn’t leave my face a choice. I made it look pleasant, jovial. “Are you going to tell me what you’re getting? I still can’t decide what I want.” Dale looked a bit taken aback but he answered all the same, “The raw cured salmon sounds good.” My stomach gurgled at the thought of eating salmon raw. Dale seemed fond of raw fish. He still tried on a monthly basis to get me to try sushi. I was breaking down slowly. Very, very slowly. “Liz, you have that face again. If I eat raw salmon next to you are you going to be okay?” “You can eat whatever you want.” Dale’s hot gaze ran down me, and I rolled my eyes. He grinned. “I’m not saying a word.” I huffed. “There’s a shocker. You normally can’t wait to seize every opportunity to remind us that you really are just like all the other guys, with a handful of pick-up lines on a notebook card, underneath that well groomed exterior. And a pocket full of pot-shots just in case you need them.” Where in the hell had that come from? “Pfft.” Paige spit water and almost choked as she laughed. Wiping her face, she coughed a few more times before she laughed again. “Lovely, Liz, now she’ll remind me of what you said each and every day.” “Damn straight,” Paige added between coughs and laughs. Dale tapped my menu with his long finger. “Hurry up and pick something before Attila the Waitress comes back.” It was my turn to laugh. “I don’t know. Pick something for me and I’ll eat it.” Paige stared at me. “Aww, you dress each other and order food for each other too, how incredibly sickening. Would you two just do it and get it over with?” Dale bit back a laugh as he leaned over to look at the menu with me. “You’re going to let me order for you? You must be very brave or incredibly stupid.” Hearing my own words repeated verbatim left me smiling. “I like to think of myself as incredibly trusting.” I didn’t miss the funny look he gave me. It seemed as though he was trying to make sense of our tit-for-tat. I didn’t comment. “You like fish, right?” “Yep.” Cooked. I held back from adding that. “Then how about the rosemary grilled tuna? Don’t worry, I’ll tell them not to serve it with the eggplant. I know how much you dislike that.” “Thanks.”  

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“What would you like to drink? Wine?” Wine didn’t sound good to me. I had to be in the mood for it. “No. Pop will do.” “Pop? I love it when you call soda that. It reminds me that you’re from Ohio. Say it with an accent and it will remind me that your parents are originally from Texas.” He leaned into me, giving me a tiny push and laughed. Oh, did you miss the fact that the comments bother me? Narrowing my eyes, I gave him a warning look. “You know, you should really watch what you say to me or the next time you let me shave your face, my hand might not be so steady. And an uncontrollable razor near a throat is a very bad thing.” After I said it, I realized what I’d just implied. I’d tossed it out there as if I expected a repeat performance of our early adventure. Horrified, I blushed and exhaled deeply. Running his hand up and down my leg, Dale smiled and patted me gently. “Relax, I know what you meant.” “Hold it!” Paige shouted, drawing a crowd in the process. “You,” she pointed at Dale, “let her--,” she pointed at me, “--shave your face?” Dale flashed a very nonchalant look. “Sure, she wanted to know how to do it and I showed her. No big deal really.” Paige’s blue gaze flickered between us. Raising an eyebrow, she gave us a suspicious look. “And how long have you been showing her things, Dale?” “Are you ready to place your order?” The powers that be were smiling at me as they sent Attila the Waitress in to interrupt Paige. Dale sat up straight and nodded towards Paige. “She’ll have your cheese-stuffed artichokes.” “With Bolognese sauce?” Dale and Paige both looked at me. I wanted to shout “what” but didn’t. Dale tapped my leg gently. “Yes please. She’ll take your rosemary-grilled tuna, no eggplant. And I’ll have your Lemon creamed, almond-crusted salmon.” Dale continued with our drink orders, and I sat there wondering why he’d changed his mind about the raw salmon. He loved that kind of stuff.

 

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Chapter Eight “Elizabeth?” I stopped staring out the cab window at the man on the street corner with dreadlocks that hung to his knees and turned to look at Paige. “Yeah?” “Did you hear me?” “No, after all these years here she still gawks out of the taxi window like it’s her first time here.” I leaned back on the seat and elbowed Dale. “New York is ever-changing. Maybe if you spent a little less time admiring yourself in the mirror you’d notice it.” He baulked. “I do not admire myself.” “Right,” Paige added sarcastically. I nudged Dale and smiled sweetly. “It’s okay, sweetie. No one loves you more than you. But don’t worry. It’s one of the things I love most about you.” His jaw dropped, and I think he was honestly surprised I’d said that. I was more than a little surprised that came out. Yesterday, I wouldn’t have thought twice about saying there were things I loved about him but things had changed dramatically between us since then. “I ... err ... forget it.” Dale kept staring at me as if at any moment my head would spin. “What?” He closed his eyes slowly before opening them again and shrugging. I’d have commented but the odd odor I’d smelled upon entering the taxi returned. It smelled like old gym socks and curdled milk. Never a good combination. “Elizabeth, I need to give Karen an answer. She really thinks you’d be perfect for her cousin, that neurologist I told you about, since your father and brother are both doctors, and she’s up to asking four times a day about you going on a date with him,” Paige said. It took me a moment to register what she’d just said. “Who?” Paige leaned forward and shot me an aggravated look. “Don’t tell me you forgot. I just talked to you about it last week. You said you’d think about it. So, did you?” Nervously, I looked towards Dale, hoping he’d fix this for me. He didn’t. He simply sat there and stared at me. “Did I what?” I asked, doing my best to follow the conversation when my head suddenly felt as though it really was spinning. What was wrong with me? Normally, I jumped at the opportunity to go out with someone who came highly recommended. Now, I didn’t even want to talk about it. “Are you on something I should know about? I mean, we were just talking about the lack of good, eligible men in this city and the minute I find you one you don’t remember ever discussing it.” Paige’s stare was hard, but I knew her well enough to know she rarely was truly mad. “I ... uhh ... umm.” Tilting her head down, she rolled her tongue over her upper lip and sighed. “So, the conversation Lauren and I had with you flew right out of your head?” “What conversation?” Dale asked, taking a newfound interest in my plight.  

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Sure, show up when I don’t want your help. Paige flashed him a wide smile. She was up to something. “Well, big brother, we were rating the men we’d been with lately. You know one to ten, based off looks, personality, penis size and bedroom performance. The oral sex category was my personal favorite. Always is.” Dale’s hands flew up. “I really did not need to hear that from my baby sister. In fact, I never want to hear that again, Paige.” “Yeah, well it’s Lauren’s favorite category too. It was in Elizabeth’s top three but it wasn’t number one.” Paige seemed to be thinking. “So, what was Liz’s favorite category?” Dale asked. Please don’t say it out loud. Paige’s face lit up. “Ohmygod, that’s right! Lauren and I had you pegged as a vanilla sex kind of gal. But the whole doggie-style or any variation of proved otherwise. I personally enjoyed your enthusiasm in explaining the finer art of having sex standing up.” I cringed. She said it out loud. “Interesting,” Dale said, looking at me. I felt myself blushing. The slow smile that spread over his face didn’t help. At least Paige hadn’t mentioned everything. “If you think that’s interesting, ask her to explain the finer art of a certain ‘sexual taboo.’ I couldn’t believe my ears when anal sex came up. Now, that is really interesting!” Dale couldn’t have looked more surprised if he tried. I dropped my head down on his shoulder, hiding my face and groaning softly. His shoulder shook up and down and I knew he was silently laughing at me. “Would you be willing to smoother me with a pillow when we get home?” Dale nudged me and let out a soft laugh. “Maybe.” Paige continued and I prepared to be mortified. “Anyway, Elizabeth’s list of recent partners was almost nonexistent. It was pathetic just one for how long now? The mystery man she refuses to name got damn fine scores. What were the specs on him again?” Between the smell in the cab and Paige’s question on Charles’ penis size, I almost threw up. Turning away from Dale fast, I cracked the window and tried to breathe normally. It didn’t work. “Something wrong?” Dale asked sardonically. I glanced back at him and found his stare hard and uninviting. Paige laughed. “Of course nothing’s wrong. Hell, Lauren and I grilled her for over an hour about Mr. Mystery. We did manage to find out that he’s a sex machine. That while he didn’t used to try to cuddle with her, he’s fast turning into one. She isn’t comfortable with that.” She cleared her throat. “Oh, and how you can be female, Elizabeth, and not enjoy being held after sex is beyond me. Women would die to have a man who is always insisting on taking them exotic places. What do you do? You spend your time watching movies with my brother, curled up on his lap. You’re still with Mr. Mystery I hope. The guy is a machine. I want one for Christmas just in case anyone cares.” “No, you don’t,” Dale said sharply. Paige waved him off. “Whatever. The point is Elizabeth’s in the prime of her life. I mean just look at her. She’s tall, always a bonus. I’ve never seen her do anything besides blow-dry her hair and yet it looks like she spends hours on it. She’s beautiful. Men don’t turn down ravenhaired women with royal blue eyes. I’m not even going to comment on her figure, but I think it’s safe to say it’s more than acceptable. And she’s actually a nice person. “Anyway, Lauren and I agreed to find her some fresh samples to toy with. Why you might  

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ask? That’s easy, because we love her and that’s what friends are for. Our goal is to find her at least ten new samples to choose from. I’m hoping she selects at least five to take for a test ride.” Dale did a double take. “You can’t be serious. I can’t believe the two of you are going to toss Liz to the wolves when she’s already seeing a snake.” “I hardly call helping the girl find worthy men to sleep with tossing her to the wolves. And Mr. Mystery doesn’t sound at all like a snake. He certainly knows how to make Elizabeth blush when she talks about him.” Stunned, I just sat there with my mouth hanging open. I looked ridiculous. Hell, I felt ridiculous. Why was everyone so concerned with how much sex I was or wasn’t getting? My cell phone rang and I had to dig it out of my silver handbag. I checked the number. Looks as the though the powers that be were done helping me out. I stared at Charles’ number and flipped the phone over fast. Closing my bag, I looked up to find Paige and Dale watching me. “Do you do that to me when I call?” Paige asked. Dale’s eyes locked on mine. “Looks like someone is trying to get a hold of you, Elizabeth.” It stopped ringing and I exhaled. The minute I inhaled again, I regretted it. The funky odor in the cab filled my nose, making me cough a bit. “I’m with Paige. Do you do that to me when I call?” Dale asked. “No,” I said a bit too fast. “What if the call was important?” What if you minded your own business and stopped trying to make me feel bad about Charles. “They’ll call back if it’s important.” Instantly, my phone rang again. “Must be important.” Giving up, I snatched my baby blue phone out of my bag and flipped it open. “Yeah?” “Liz?” I touched my tongue to my top lip and wagged my eyebrows at Dale. “Hi Cindy, what’s up?” Never before had my childhood friend, Cindy Caros’ voice sounded sweeter. “Is this a bad time? I just wanted to double-check that you’re still going to make it in for the reunion. Don’t forget that we’ve got festivities planned for the week. And I also need to know if it’s okay to release your name as one of the attendees.” I thought about it a moment and still couldn’t make sense of it. “Why do you need to release my name? I’ll be there, but I’m not clear how that matters to anyone else. The only girlfriends I had know I’m coming. I don’t think any of the guys I used to hang around will show. They never were much for parties, unless Pink Floyd tapes and illegal substances were involved.” Cindy cleared her throat, something she did whenever she was nervous. “Some people have been asking. That’s all. It’s really no big deal. I just wanted to clear it with you before I said anything.” I chuckled as I took a guess at who might care if I showed up for a damn reunion or not. “Is it the bitch brigade? Have they missed making snide comments at me as I walked past them in the hall? Maybe they’ve come up with new ones. String-bean, Lurch, Amazon woman were so over used by them that I can only hope they’ve been expanding their limited vocabulary. And is it wrong to hope their asses expanded too?” Dale and Paige laughed hard. So did Cindy. “I miss you so much, Liz. You always know how to make me laugh. And no, the bitch brigade were not the ones asking. Though, I’m sure  

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they’ll love seeing you again.” “Cindy, I can tell by your tone that you really don’t want to tell me who it is. I can think of a hundred reasons why and who might want to know. But could you just tell them that I’ve yet to respond?” Whoever the mystery wondering party was could wait for me to show up. Then I’d be on a level playing field. “Whew, that’s what I’ve been telling everyone. But I still had to ask. I’m making a note now.” “Ohmygod, you’re still as anal as ever. But I love ya all the same. You do realize that without you, I’d have forgotten my way home. I didn’t have to worry about a thing. I had a friend who filled out my agenda book along with hers, making sure to note times I needed to remember to call her.” “I have your itinerary done for when you are home this time, too. I want some extra time with you.” I let out a soft laugh. “Deal. I might even have someone you’ve been dying to meet come with me.” I glanced at Dale. “Tell me who.” “No.” “Liz.” “Nope.” I laughed. We said our goodbyes, and I shoved the phone back in my bag. I shot Dale a victorious grin because I knew damn well he’d assumed it was Charles both times. One out of two wasn’t bad, but not perfect. No sooner did the thought pass than my phone rang again. “If only people wanted to talk to me that much,” Paige said jokingly. Flipping it open, I brought it to my lips. “Cindy, the answer is still no.” “Well, I was hoping for a yes, but I’d be willing to take a maybe,” Charles said. Don’t panic. Don’t give them any indication that it’s not Cindy. Dale leaned over and pressed his mouth to my ear. “Tell Cindy I said hi.” “Elizabeth? What’s the matter, sweetheart?” “Yeah, sweetheart. What’s the matter?” Dale whispered. Wonderful! Because I had trouble hearing with the normal hustle and bustle of the streets, I’d jacked the volume up all the way. Now Dale had the ability to hear exactly what Charles was saying. “I’m ... umm ... fine.” I tried to push Dale away. He didn’t budge. “Are you still out with your friends?” Charles asked, sounding as sexy as ever. “Yeah.” “You don’t sound like you’re having a good time. Why don’t you tell them you’re not feeling well and come over? When I got home, I walked into my bedroom, and I realized how empty the bed looks without you in it. In fact, I was thinking about how empty I am without you under me. Come over. Spend the whole night with me. You never stay. If I didn’t know every inch of you I’d swear you were a man. The way you roll out of bed, shower, and run home is a very male thing to do.” I let out a nervous laugh because I couldn’t think of anything better to say. “Come over, Elizabeth. You got me all worked up today and then ran out the door with Corbin. That brings up another matter I’d like discuss with you. I’d also like to tell you that I can go to your reunion with you. I’ll need to be back by Tuesday but that will give us a few days  

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together. And getting to roll over and have you under me anytime I want sounds incredibly good to me. I miss touching you and it’s not even been twenty-four hours yet. But the feel of your—” “I get the picture.” “Do you? If you need me to explain it to you in more detail I can. I can tell you exactly how you look from every direction. Mmm, remember your guess this morning on what I was thinking about you doing with your legs? Do you? It involved them wrapped around a certain something.” I saw the train wreck before it was going to happen but couldn’t seem to stop it. “So, Liz, what was your guess?” Dale asked, his voice still a whisper, only now it was a very harsh whisper. “This really isn’t a good time. I’ll call you back later. I think it would be best for you not to come home with me for the reunion. I’ll call you or, better yet, meet you for coffee in the morning. Okay?” “Elizabeth, are you with another man right now?” “How’s Belinda doing?” “Point taken, but I have to admit I’m hurt that you’d choose a man you just met over one who you have been with over a year. Things have changed for us, Elizabeth. I know you don’t like to admit that, but they have. I’m not trying to pressure you. I’m just pointing out a fact.” “Over a year? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Dale didn’t bother to whisper that time. “Ah, well, I can hear that you’re busy, Elizabeth.” “Hey, Mr. Baum! How are things at the office? Did something come up that you need us in for? We can cut our date short and meet you there. It’s no biggie. We’ll just pick up where we left off when we’re done.” Hearing Dale address Charles directly startled me. The phone slipped out of my hand and fell into Dale’s lap. The irony of the situation was not lost on me. Reaching for it, I hesitated just above his groin. Dale smiled wickedly with a daring look. Light pink fingers nails appeared and ripped the phone off Dale’s lap. “Here,” Paige said, shoving the phone at me. “Gawd, Elizabeth, it’s just Dale. You’re acting like his penis is going to leap out and get you.” “Paige!” I couldn’t believe she’d said that. “Never, ever mention my ... umm ... me again. That’s just not right. Go back to calling screwing being intimate. I liked you better like that.” Dale narrowed his eyes on Paige before moving them to me. “You going to talk to him or just let him sit on the phone while you stare at me?” I’m going to leave him on the phone and stare at you. Shaking the insane thought from head, I brought the phone back to my lips. “Sorry, I dropped the phone.” “Elizabeth, are you having sex with Corbin too?” “No! Corbin ... errr ... Dale and I are not having sex.” Not in the technical sense of the word. Dale pressed his hand to his ear. “Listen. Do you hear it? Is it the sound of splitting hairs?” “What?” Paige asked coming off her seat slightly. “Dale, I heard that and you said the two of you weren’t intimate. I have to call Megan and Lauren. Took you two long enough. Geesh.” “No,” I said sternly to her. “Elizabeth, I understand that our relationship is very open, but I don’t want you sleeping with Corbin. Pick another man, and I’ll do my best not to comment. I can’t make any promises  

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but I’ll try. We agreed this morning that at this point in our relationship I have the right to be jealous. I’m working on that. But there is no way I can look at Corbin every day at the office and know that he’s sharing you.” “I know the feeling, Baum.” I elbowed Dale hard, and he grunted. I then focused on Charles. “He’s just kidding. Goodnight, Charles.” I shut my phone and turned it off. Looking up at Dale, I found him staring straight ahead.

 

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Chapter Nine The rest of the cab ride to Fever, a local hotspot, was odd to say the least. Dale sat next to me but didn’t say a word to me. He laughed at Paige’s quirky jokes and smiled when needed but other than that, he was quiet. “You feeling all right?” I touched Dale’s leg lightly. He tensed before moving his leg away from me. Slap me in the face. It would hurt less. I’d have dwelled more on it but we arrived at Fever sooner than I thought we would. Lauren was already near the entrance with Megan. They both lived on the floor below me. Megan’s apartment was directly under mine and Lauren’s was under Paige’s. Guess which one complained about the bed thumping noises coming from above them. Lauren had on a silver tank and a tight pair of black boot cut slacks. The four-inch, silver, ‘kick’ mule pumps she’d paired with the outfit sealed the deal. She was a woman looking to score tonight. Knowing Lauren, she’d have one or two men with very happy looks on their faces leaving her apartment tomorrow morning. I admired her. She was a driven woman who knew who and what she wanted. Megan’s red leather skirt and tiny white top made her look just as eligible as Lauren in a red light special kind of way. Her only saving grace was the knee high black leather boots she had on. Piles upon piles of blonde curls cascaded down her shoulders lending to her perfect diva appearance. I’ve really got to stop hanging around gorgeous women. It’s hell on my self-esteem. I stepped out, adjusted my top, and smoothed my jeans. Dale grunted and thrust my tiny silver handbag into my hand. I’d reached my limit. His newfound jackass routine had worn on my nerve. “You planning to tell me what’s going on or are you fixin’ on making me guess?” I asked, realizing that I really did have an accent when I was upset. I concentrated quickly on toning that down. “I’m fixin’ to make you guess,” he said coldly. Lauren and Megan stood there with their mouths open. “Help us all. You can take the girl out of country but you can’t take the county out of the girl!” Lauren yelled, running towards me. “Honey, I was wondering if that dick of a boss of yours would let you come out and play tonight. I’m starting to think he wants you all to himself.” “Pftt, if you only knew,” Dale snorted. Was it wrong that I wanted to smack him and hug him? Staring at Lauren, I immediately noticed the new blonde highlights in her long dark hair. They went beautifully with her light bronze skin. Italian through and through. I touched it lightly and smiled. “Somebody going blonde again?” She rolled her green eyes and shrugged. “Every now and then I like a change. Is it too much?” “No. It’s perfect! And I’m loving the shoes.” She beamed. “I just picked them up yesterday. They’re Constanca Basto’s and I managed to get them for only two hundred bucks.”  

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Gee, only two hundred dollars. I had no clue what she was talking about, but I pretended with the best of them. “Get out! They retail for a heck of lot more than that, don’t they?” Lauren laughed. “You’re getting better at faking fashion knowledge.” “Thanks, I’ve been working on it. Dale talks non-stop about it so I’m bound to learn through osmosis. Give me credit, at least I know the difference between Hilfiger and Lauren now.” “Seth will be happy to hear that.” “No doubt.” Lauren smiled and pointed towards the line at the door. “We waited for you before heading in. The doorman is expecting us.” “Yeah, we were afraid you’d lay into a bouncer again and not be allowed in,” Megan said, between bubble gum chomps while she stared at me. Paige laughed and Lauren’s gaze met mine. I knew exactly what she was thinking—airhead. Regardless how flighty Megan was, she was our friend. The girl would do anything for you and that spoke volumes for her character. How she succeeded as a personal shopper was a question we’d be asking ourselves for years to come. A cool breeze picked up, and we all shivered. My luck, it would rain the first night I finally get out with the gang in months. Dale moved up behind me, standing closer than I thought he would. Something else flashed over Lauren’s face as she stared at Dale. She’d be playing twenty questions with me as soon as she got a chance. I can hardly wait. Megan and Paige paired off, leaving the three of us to stand together. No one said a word for a minute. The tension in the cab ride was already more than I could take. Fearing a major meltdown coming on, I headed for the club door. “Get in line, girlie!” a man shouted. I ignored him, heading straight for the freakishly large bouncer at the door. He nodded and opened the door for us. Pausing a moment, I turned and touched Dale. He cringed and it felt as though someone had punched me in the gut. “He’s with me.” “Am I, Liz? Are you sure, because you may think I’m at your beck and call, but I’m not.” “What?” Ignoring me, he put his hand on my back and pushed me towards the door. The bouncer nodded again, holding the door open for us. As we stepped through, the volume level increased dramatically. Lauren grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me hard and fast towards the dance floor. Quickly, I captured Dale’s hand in mine. Lauren whipped us out onto the dance floor and shook her way next to me. “Paige went to get drinks. Megan’s finding a table. Your mission is to have fun tonight. And you, Dale, are charged with seeing she does.” “I thought I already did that,” Dale said, smiling wryly at me. Lauren tossed her hand up and shook her head. “I’m sensing trouble in paradise and I, for one, am not willing to step between the two of you. The sexual tension you two normally walk around with is bad enough. This is too much for me.” “What sexual tension? We do not have tension.” Lauren didn’t answer, she simply walked away. I looked around the club, its vaulted ceiling and odd track lighting gave it a disco feel. It was of my favorites to come to. They were prone to playing music from just about any era and I loved that. So did Dale. It was extra nice because the  

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DJ’s knew us and seemed to slide our favorites in as often as they could. The club was different but not unattractive. It was done in deep blues and maroons. There were four large half rooms that spun off the main room in each direction. One had pool tables in it and a dartboard. Another had a large cushioned seating bench with a padded back that ran all the way around the room. Tables sat in front of it with individual chairs at each one. The other two rooms had high, dark maroon round tables with tall swivel, padded vinyl stools surrounding them. The absolute best part of Fever was the Disc Jockey’s booth. It sat along the back wall with the dance floor in front of it and was huge. Mirrors were all over behind it. The part I liked was the silver love beads that flanked both sides of the booth. After I had enough alcohol they always look like gems under the ocean when the lights hit them just right. Hey, I’m entitled to resort to age ten any damn time I feel like it. “Are you tired, Liz? Do you need to call it a night?” Dale asked from behind me. “I’m sure there’s a bed out there that’s very empty right now.” I turned to face him extremely unimpressed about how he was handling the Charles thing. Crossing my arms, I gave him a hard stare and didn’t move. “Let me have it, Dale. I know you’ve got at least a billion smart ass comebacks for me. So spit them out so we can be done with this. We’ve been arguing for hours over this and we never do that. I don’t want this between us.” Dale grabbed my hands and spun me around until my back was pressed to him. My arms were crossed and he held tight to each hand. He began to move us, swaying with the slow techno mix. He put his chin on my shoulder and sighed in my ear. “A year, huh? That’s a long time to lie to me, Elizabeth. And, yes, it counts as lie. Just thought I’d point that out since you like to split hairs and all.” “I’m sorry, Dale.” Against my better judgment, I leaned back into him. We’d danced together so many times before, but I’d never once thought about how well we fit together. My body seemed to anticipate every move he made. Had we always been like that? Dale asked me something, but I didn’t hear him. I was too busy concentrating on how he felt pressed against me now. “Do you, Liz?” Coming out of my fog, I tilted my head so I could see his face. “Do I what?” “Do you honestly think what we did doesn’t count as sex?” Sorry I asked. Opening my mouth, I tried to answer him but ended up closing it again. I thought about it again. “I ... err ... I don’t know. We never really talked about it so I wasn’t sure exactly what it meant.” “Ohmygod, you’re sleeping with him too?” The minute I heard the sound of Helen Endsley’s voice, I wanted to hit something. Preferably her. I held back. Mostly because Dale still held my hands. I’d also just had my nails filed and she so wasn’t worth the effort. Helen, also known as Vincent Walter’s left hand wench, stood there with her hand on her hip, giving me a disgusted look. Her pale green eyes raked over me as her lip curled. “So now you have all your bases covered, Rogers. If you’re extra good in bed, Corbin might do all the work for you.” The tiny maroon Gucci dress she had on was stunning. The cut out pattern on it was something Megan would just love. Helen had the body to wear it. Even I couldn’t deny that. The  

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only thing that took from that was the fact she seemed obsessed with keeping her hair whacked off to the point there was next to nothing left. Helen then proceeded to slick that short amount of hair back, giving her an androgynous look. Yet, she still managed to come off as feminine. I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Paula Seraphim come walking up to stand beside Helen. They were partners in crime. Paula was Vincent’s right hand and on again, off again girlfriend. Why it was fine for the two of them to date even though they worked together but I wasn’t allowed to was beyond me. I don’t think they thought about double standards in their ‘how do we make Liz feel like crap meetings.’ Helen gave me a wry look. “Paula, Elizabeth and Corbin are an item now too. We better hide the rest of the men at the office or she’ll have herself a bakers’ dozen by the end of the week.” Paula scanned me as thought she were smelling something bad and laughed. “They’re just friends. Corbin wouldn’t stoop that low. ” Rubbing her fingers over her turquoise necklace, she let a slow smile spread over her narrow face. I wasn’t entirely sure what her goal was when she selected her outfit, but she looked vaguely like a pirate dunked in shades of blue. The head to toe silk ensemble came equipped with an A-line skirt that went just below her knobby knees. The swirl pattern let the eye move non-stop, creating a headache. The white puff sleeved, silk shirt she wore was something I would have selected for myself as well but having seen her in one I’d never dare buy one. I tried to move out of Dale’s grasp but he held me tight. Pressing his lips to my ear, he whispered to me. “Hmm, would you like to take this opportunity to tell them they’re right about everything? Or, would you like to give them something to talk about?” I turned into him with the intention of whispering into his ear. When I found our lips almost touching, I visually traced a slow line up Dale’s smooth face and found his emerald green eyes watching me intensely. For a moment, I forgot exactly why I’d turned to face him. Then it hit me. “Mmm, you pick. I’m tired of it all.” Dale glanced towards them and then back at me. He gave me a mischievous smile before directing his attention back to Helen and Paula. “Tell me, ladies. Why does it matter so much who Liz is and is not seeing?” Suddenly, they looked like deer caught in headlights as they stared at one another. Paula went to speak but stopped, clearly hoping Helen would have a great explanation. Helen had none. She huffed and turned to Paula. “Come on, let’s try to have a nice time tonight even though we have to share space with that workplace whore even more than we already have to.” My blood pumped wildly. Who was she calling a workplace whore? I tried to jerk out of Dale’s grasp but he held tight to me. “Let go.” “No, I’m not spending the night bailing you out of jail because you beat the living crap out of the world’s most jealous women.” Helen and Paula turned slowly and looked at us. I knew they’d heard his comment, but they made no attempt to comment on it. Dale couldn’t leave well enough alone. “Remember when you were teasing me about the women I chose to date being stupid enough to fall for the German measles thing?” My stomach turned. “You dated them?” Dale wrapped his arms tight around me and rocked me back and forth, laughing softly in my ear. “No, I was--,” he did a fake cough, “--too sick to go.” I lost it. I laughed so hard that I snorted again, making Dale laugh too. Megan came running up to us, smiling as her breasts and hair bounced. “Come on you two.  

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We’ve got a table full of drinks, the need to dance, a DJ willing to accommodate all our needs, and the desire to find some hot guys to entertain us tonight.” Dale nodded but held me to him. He pressed his mouth to my ear. “We didn’t get a chance to finish our conversation.” “Huh?” “Do you, Liz?” I tilted my head so I could see his face better. “Do I what?” “Do you honestly think what we did doesn’t count as sex?” Sorry I asked. again. Opening my mouth, I tried to answer him but ended up closing it again. “I ... err ... I don’t know. I didn’t think you wanted Charles to know about your sex life and I’m fairly sure you’d rather Paige not hear it either.” “Yeah, maybe filing that incident in the bathroom away and keeping it between us is for the best. It would just make things awkward around everyone else and girls I date might get jealous because I’m still friends with you. Kind of messes with my image.” Girls he dates? Messes with his image? I gripped his hands as I soaked in the words. It wasn’t like I expected anything from him. We agreed to not let it change our friendship and I’d made sure to stay detached. Knowing all of this didn’t make the thought of Dale being with someone else hurt any less. It was none of my business that he wanted to see other people. “You know, come to think of it, it would be nice to find someone to take care of things for me the right way.” The right way? The wicked bitch of the west branch just had the house drop on her. I stopped moving with him and he had to force me to go at all. There were so many things I should have said. I said nothing. “It’s a good thing that the one time we lose our minds was substandard to say the least. Can you even imagine if it actually ranked up there in our best of category? It’d be really hard to get over that.” He pressed his mouth to my ear and whispered, “I can assure you that nothing will change between us because I’m over it. Thanks for the roll about though. It was amusing to say the least.” Substandard? Roll about? Amusing? He let go of my hands and I stood still. I didn’t let the anger in me surface. It was odd to feel so calm when I was so angry and so hurt. Turning, I looked at Dale. I carefully kept my face void of emotion. “Dale.” “What, do you disagree? Am I wrong, Liz? Let me know, I’d hate to piss you off.” There was something in his tone I couldn’t put my finger on. I didn’t care to evaluate it. He wanted to pick a fight, and I wasn’t in the mood to take the bait. I locked eyes with him. “Dale, I’m not upset with you. I’m disappointed in you. Resorting to this isn’t something I ever thought you would do. I am truly sorry that I was a ‘lame lay’ for you. And I’m sorry that I told you I wouldn’t let it change things between us.” Dale moved to touch me, but I shook my head no. He stopped, but he wasn’t happy about it. “You’re disappointed in me? Huh, that’s rich considering what you’ve been up to for a year.” “I’m not going to take the bait and argue with you. You’re hurt and angry so you’re lashing out at me. If you’re having issues dealing with what happened and you regret me wasting your time that’s fine. I don’t share your opinion on it being substandard, but I’m biased, I’m the  

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woman in question. You didn’t hurt me tonight, you hurt us. I will move your things to Paige’s tomorrow morning.” I put my hand out to him. “I’d like my key back now.” His face fell. “Liz, are you throwing me out?” “I’m simply helping you to eliminate all the substandard aspects of your life. Good luck with all you do.” Dale tried to pull me to him, but I backed away and put my hand out again. “My key, please.” He reached into his pocket and pulled his keys out. I watched with a stone face as he slid his key to my apartment off his ring. Looking down at my outstretched hand, I noticed the Gucci watch he’d given me. I brought my hand back and Dale looked relieved right up until I unclasped the watch and removed it from my wrist. “Liz, that was a gift.” “I know and I loved it, but every time I look at it I’ll be reminded of the ugly things you said to me. I trusted you and let you close to me. That was my own mistake. I should have learned my lesson the first time around.” “First time around?” Dale asked, slowly handing my key to me. I ignored his question. He didn’t deserve an answer. I took it and placed the watch in his hand. “I think it’s safe to assume that I’m going home to Ohio alone. I do thank you for having offered. You didn’t have to do that.” I took a deep breath before I delivered the killing blow. “I’ll speak with Charles about moving you off my team while I’m on vacation. I’m sure with the right persuasion he’ll do as I ask and not think it substandard.” I turned to walk away. Dale caught hold of my arm and held me in place. “Liz, I didn’t mean any of that. I was hurt. I don’t think—” Putting my hand up, I stopped him and peeked over my shoulder. “You said what you meant. I just find it funny that your anger for Charles started this between us and now he’ll be the one to clean it up. And, Dale, he’s never been anything but kind to me. Can you say the same?” Yanking my arm free of his grasp, I walked back towards the entrance. I not only needed air now, I needed to apologize to Charles and be sure Dale’s job was secure. I made my way out of the front door and stepped to the side. Unzipping my handbag, I grabbed my phone out and turned it back on. It took a minute for it to sync up with the satellite. Scrolling through missed calls, I found Charles’ number and hit the enter button. “I was wondering if you’d call back,” Charles said as he answered. “I thought you might.” “You think you’ve got me all figured out, don’t you?” I asked in a playful tone. “I’d like to think I do. Now, do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” “Charles, we both know you don’t care ... hey, how did you know something is wrong?” He chuckled and I could just imagine him laying back on his bed, half out of his suit as he talked to me. “I know you better then you like to believe, Elizabeth.” “I guess so.” I laughed and twisted away from the door more to be able to hear Charles better. “I’m sorry I had to cut you off earlier. It was a little hard to hear.” “I had no idea Corbin could be that loud.” “Ignore him, we all do.” I did a silent prayer that Charles would let the Dale situation go. “We? So, you’re out in a group?” “Yep, I have three of my girlfriends and one of them, Paige, is Corbin’s sister.” I could almost hear his relief over the phone. “I told you that before. You just don’t listen to me.” “I’ll admit I was a bit concerned you and he were an item.” I picked at the brick next to me and thought carefully about everything I was saying. When I  

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realized I was ruining my French manicure, I stopped. “Ah, no, Corbin, as you like to call him, and I have never been an item--we were close friends at one time but a difference of opinions ended that. I’ll be honest, I thought for a brief period there that there was something more but he made it abundantly clear I’m not his type. Everything happens for a reason. The only reason I’m telling you this is so you don’t dare fire him or take out your anger on him. He can be an ass at times, but he doesn’t deserve you gunning for him for no reason.” Charles laughed from the gut. “I can’t believe you’re not his type. I’ve just gone from being jealous to feeling bad for him.” He was quiet for a moment. “Did it upset you that you weren’t his type?” I stood there thinking about Charles’ question. “Promise you won’t use anything I say against him and then I’ll give you an honest answer.” “I promise.” “Yes, I think I did wish I would have been his type. But you can’t force what isn’t there. Well, I should get back into Fever and find my friends before they get paranoid and have the DJ page me.” “Elizabeth, come over tonight. Stay with me. You’ve never spent more than a few hours here.” “Charles, not tonight. Thanks for asking though. I think I’d like to just spend the evening with the girls. We could meet for coffee in the morning if you want. I’m going shopping with the girls to find a dress for my reunion and I’m having dinner with everyone later.” I leaned against the wall and clicked my heel nervously on the ground. Someone laid on their horn and I flinched. Gotta love New York. “Coffee sounds perfect.” “Hey, before I hang up. Thank you.” “For what?” “See you in the morning.” I hung up and looked out into the night. It’s true what they say. The city never does sleep. There were as many people out and about as there was during the middle of the day. As I turned to go back into the club, I ran smack into Dale. I looked to find his face blank. Wonderful, I loved emotional crapshoots. “I had a feeling you were coming out to call him.” I tried to side step him and failed. I thought about stomping on his foot but liked his black leather boots too much to cause them harm. “Excuse me please, I have nothing further to say to you.” “But you have plenty to say to him.” Was it wrong that I no longer wanted to hit him, now I wanted to kick him? I resisted the urge to injure him. Instead, I did something neither of us expected. I ran my thumb or his lip and cupped his cheek as I looked up at him. “Just because you think I’m barely worth a quick roll in the bathroom, doesn’t mean I think that of you. I called Charles to ensure you had a job Monday morning, Dale.” “You didn’t ask him to move me off your team. Why?” “Because when I meet him for coffee in the morning I’m going to put in my resignation and recommend you for my position.” I tried to move again, only to find myself being pulled into his arms. “Dammit, Liz, I know I screwed up and you’re mad but don’t destroy your career over it.” Pushing on his chest, I put distance between us. “How is finding a new position ruining my career? I should have never gotten involved with my boss. Regardless of how hard I work people  

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believe he plays favorites. I’ll start over. Wipe the slate clean. Hopefully it will be somewhere close but honestly, I’ll go wherever the wind takes me. Now move.”

 

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Chapter Ten I stumbled a bit and grabbed Lauren to stay upright. She laughed and then made some sort of barking noise that I didn’t want to explore any further. I tried to shush her but couldn’t really remember why we needed to be quiet. Lauren and I locked eyes and couldn’t stop laughing, again. “Are they still at it?” I heard Paige but didn’t see her. “Pagiepoo?” Lauren and I knocked hips and laughed more. My stomach already hurt but it didn’t matter. I needed this. After my little run in with Dale outside I’d decided to head in and start the ritual shot marathon with the girls. So far, I was winning. “What do you want to hear next, Liz?” I looked straight up for the sound of the voice. I only found multi colored strobe lights and silver beads. I twirled a little too fast and grabbed hold of the closest thing I could find. Looking up, I found Dale standing there. I snarled and Lauren followed suit. “Come on, Liz. I think you’ve had enough,” Dale said, reaching for me. I jerked my hand back and then shook my finger at him. “Don’t touch me.” “Liz, what do you want to hear?” I looked up again. “Is someone talking to me or have I officially lost it? God, is that you?” I laughed. Lauren slammed into me and took hold of my hands, “Shhh, he’ll hear you.” “Who?” “Him.” Now I was really lost. “Him who?” “You know him.” Lauren clutched tight to me while we looked at the ceiling. “Oh, right did we ever name him? Don’t call him Dale or I will throw up. And before you say it, no, you can’t name him Brad Pitt.” Lauren’s green eyes locked on me and grew the size of half dollars. “I’ve got it! We can name him....” Paige stepped in front of us. Her large breasts eclipsed everything. Grabbing our chins, she lifted our faces to look at the Disc Jockey booth. “Him is Drew the D.J. and he wants to know what you want to hear next.” Lauren and I stood. She shook her head. “I don’t like him being called Drew. Let’s call him that pretty name ... the one ... umm ... yes. Remember when I asked why you were so comfortable with a guy as your best friend?” I shook my head yes. “No. Why?” “Elizabeth, you have no memory.” She kissed my cheek and we started to dance again. Dale, Megan and Paige kept us corralled by the booth. “You told me that your best friend from home was a boy ... errr ... man.” “Huh?” “You can forget a man you were best friends all your life with? Damn you are good. Let’s name him, him. Oh, and we’ll dedicate a song to him!”  

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It dawned on me then. “Oh, him! His name is Dakota.” I grabbed Paige’s hand and forced her to dance with me. She seemed a bit reluctant. It hit me that I’d just said Dakota’s name. Why had I said that? I never talked about him. Ever. Dale stepped forward and took my hand from Paige’s. “Who is Dakota?” Lauren jumped forward and put her finger to her lips. “Shhh, Elizabeth made me promise not to tell anyone about him. I only know because I accidentally let him into the building.” She gave me a hug. “He told me he was a good friend of yours from home.” I patted her back gently. “You smell really good. What is that?” “I don’t remember, but you bought it for me.” “Hmm, it smells really good on you.” Dale stepped in front of us. “Ladies if you could just focus for a minute here. Who is Dakota and why didn’t I meet him when he came?” Lauren threw her hands in the air and caught my hair in her hand. Dale untangled us and she carried on. “I’ve got this one. You did meet Dakota, you just didn’t pay attention to him. But he paid attention to you and the fact you’d come out of her apartment. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to tell him that you were always there. He wasn’t happy. Time for a new song!” I nodded and looked at Drew the DJ. “In honor of Dakota we should pick one that covers it all.” Lauren smiled wide. “Then it’s gotta talk about a hella hunk. That boy was fine with a capital T.” “You mean capital F,” Megan said, softly. Lauren pointed and nodded at her. “She is really smart. Oh, the song also has to talk about the two of you being best friends for like ever.” Nodding, I pulled her to me and hugged her tight. “Never be friends with a man. Trust me, they all hurt you in the end.” “Dale, what the hell is going on?” Paige asked, making me jump slightly from the threatening tone in her voice. Dale cleared his throat. “Liz, kicked me out.” “She did what?” Megan pushed forward and I put my attention back on Drew. “Here, find this and it will be the perfect song. It has to talk about what Lauren said, by the way, I love you, Lauren ... It has to cover accidentally falling in love with him, listening to his lies about how he loved me too, and talk about being engaged.” I looked at Lauren and shook my finger. “Never get engaged, it will only hurt you. And the song should tell about how he broke our engagement off, over the phone, about twenty minutes before I had to start my first day interning here in New York.” I turned and glared at Dale as I dropped my voice down to impersonate Dakota. “Dammit, Liz, I’m not playing here. If you stay there, in New York, we are done. Is that what you want? Do you think you’ll find better there? Honey, you’re a hillbilly in their eyes and they’ll never let you forget it. You’re bad for their image. And you’ll always be second rate next to those polished little rich girls. They’ll take a roll in the hay with you and then move to greener pastures. Is that the life you want? When you decide, call me, better yet, don’t bother to call. I’m done.” Dale’s face went white and I laughed. Glancing at Lauren, I nodded. “Turns out he was psychic after all. We should have the song mention that too.” Lauren took hold of me and we began to slow dance to the fast song. It worked for us so we kept it going. “Aww, you’re forgetting one of the good parts. Tell Drew how you met Dale like  

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an hour after Dakota broke up with you. He thought you were nervous at work. He didn’t know your entire world had just crumbled. Aww, sweet Dale.” The beat picked up into a funky little punk groove. Lauren and I began bobbing our heads and moving around. No one else moved with us. “They are certainly downers.” Lauren nodded. “I agree. We better leave out the part where Dakota showed up out of the blue two years later and wanted to make it right with you.” I spun over to Megan and took her drink from her. She protested, but I ignored her. Taking a sip, I coughed. “Bartender, I’d like a little ice with my vodka.” Lauren took it from me and tried it. I think she felt the same way because she spit it out. “Yuck, Megs, that’s harsh.” She glanced at the D.J. and smiled wide. “Did you find a song that works yet? We named him Dakota and he needs a song. Make sure it covers how he and Liz almost worked it out and at the last minute he put his foot down about Dale being in her life. She sent his ass packing to Ohio and never told anyone he was ever here. Except me, but I already covered that one.” Drew leaned over and gave me a concerned look. “Sorry, sweetie I don’t have one that covers all that. How about this one, though.” I listened as the sound of someone playing a piano came on, followed by Gloria Gayner’s angelic voice singing I Will Survive. I blew Drew a kiss and began to dance with Lauren more. Suddenly, I was sandwiched between Lauren, Paige and Megan. They held me tight and we walked a tiny circle doing the oddest dance I’d ever seen. They pulled back and I saw Megan and Paige crying. “Oh, don’t be sad. He taught me a valuable lesson. The person you love and trust the most is also the one who can hurt you the worst. I convinced myself it was just a Dakota thing but it’s not. I learned today that it’s the truth. The Dakotas of the world make the Charleses look like gods.” Paige pulled me back to her and hugged me again as she continued to cry. “You should have told us you were going through all of that.” Megan wiped her eyes and hugged me too. “Sweetie, we could have helped you. You shouldn’t have dealt with that on your own.” Patting their arms, I just smiled. A wave of dizziness swept over me but passed quickly. “I wasn’t alone. I had Dale. He came back from one of his man bimbo dates....” They all nodded their heads, understanding exactly what I was talking about. “I couldn’t stop crying and he thought I was on my period. I didn’t correct him. He grabbed a pint of double fudge ice cream out of the freezer and we lay quietly on my bed talking about how horrible his date was.” Paige pulled back a bit and gave me an odd look. “You gave up a man you loved for my worthless brother and then he spent the night talking about his date with another woman?” “Yep, in a nutshell.” I held tight to Paige and swayed a minute. The room spun a bit more, but I didn’t fall. Instantly, she launched at Dale and smacked him in the back of the head. I thought she was done but then she used her pink Prada bag to do it again. I found the scene funny. So did Lauren. Megan took Paige’s handbag from her and gave her a dirty look. “Leave our Dale alone. He helped her all along and didn’t even know he was.” I leaned forward to whisper to them and the room spun again. “Did the floor just move?” Dale was suddenly next to me with his hand on my waist. “This is not our Dale. Someone took him and left this one in his place. Let me tell you, he may have the same face but he’s mean, vindictive, heartless....” Paige didn’t let me finish. She launched at Dale again. How she didn’t hit me too is a  

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mystery. “What in the hell did you do to her? She’s drunk off her ass and telling us shit she wouldn’t have dared to when sober!” I pulled him behind me and lost my footing a bit. He steadied me as I looked at Paige. “Don’t yell at him. It’s not his fault. It’s mine.” Her brow furrowed. “Yours? How?” “Because you can’t yell at him if what he says is true.” I closed my eyes a minute trying to get the spinning to stop. “I’m a hillbilly who is second rate and good for a quick roll in the hay or should we say bathroom only. And I do hurt his image. See, you can’t yell at him because he’s right. I didn’t even know what Bolognese sauce was.” I put my hand up to stop Paige. “Dakota loved me and told me the truth. I should have listened. It’s not Dale’s fault. I knew better. I knew I wasn’t good enough. It’s why I stay away from men like Dale and use ones like Charles. I know, entering the arrangement that it’s just sex, just a game. I don’t put my heart into it. Shh, it’s not his—” “Ohmygod, Elizabeth,” Paige said, tears filling her eyes. “My brother is an asshole. Tell her you’re an asshole, Dale.” Dale stared at me, his lips pressed together tightly. I could see the pain in his eyes and wanted to erase it. Putting out my hand, I touched his smooth cheek. “Don’t be sad, Dale. You weren’t as bad as Dakota. You don’t love me. You’ve always seen me for what I am. The girl with a twang who doesn’t always understand your high society ways.” “Liz, that’s not true,” he said as he tried to pull me into a hug. I pushed him off me and let out a wicked laugh. “Oh, no. You lost the right to try to comfort me.” Dancing in a circle, I did my best to keep my balance. “Besides, I don’t need or want a constant reminder of all the things I’m not. I have a mirror that works just fine all on its own.” Megan pushed between Dale and me. “I can’t believe you were engaged and never told us.” She gave me a quick hug and kissed my cheek. “Well--,” she choked back tears, “--at least you didn’t get saddled to a man and farm, since you wanted to get away and all.” Paige huffed. “Saddled? Nice, Megan. Real nice.” I pointed at her. “Remember the gift I got—the one that came with yellow daisies? You couldn’t believe someone would send me those instead of roses.” I staggered a bit but managed to stay upright somehow. She nodded. “Yeah, whoever sent those put all kinds of rodeo pictures and books in a box with them.” Her eyes widened. “It was him. Dakota. I remember the name on the picture of the hella hunk. Ohmygod, Elizabeth, you were going to marry an honest to God cowboy?” Nodding, I let out a soft laugh. “He’s famous, Paige. I knew he would be. He told me when I was sixteen that he’d do something great with his life so he could buy us a ranch of our own and fill it with lots of little ones.” I shook my hips to the beat. “And the yellow daisies were to let me know he never forgot.” “Never forgot what?” she asked. “The day we lost our virginity.” I winked. “It was in his family’s back property. He rode me out on the back of one of his horses and laid a blanket out in the center this field. It was close to the river. Anyways, he took his time with me. We spent the entire day exploring each other. I fell asleep in his arms and woke up to find him putting a yellow daisy behind my ear. He told me that he loved me for the first time that day.” “Aww, how romantic,” Megan said, wiping her eyes. Paige leveled a hard look on Dale. “What did you do to her, Dale? What did you say?” “That what happened between us was substandard. That I was fine for a ‘roll about’ but  

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nothing else. And, I think you already know how he feels about me being ... umm ... a hillbilly.” I touched her shoulder. “Don’t yell at him, Paige. He’s right. It just hurts to hear the truth from someone you trust and can’t be without.” It was my turn to cry. “He thinks I don’t notice him— that I don’t care if he’s around or not. Paige, I can’t sleep if he isn’t with me. I fidget and watch the clock endlessly until Dale enters the room and then I’m suddenly calm. If I’m at Charles’ house, I can’t sleep or even get comfortable. I lay there, sick with a feeling that is so close to guilt I can’t explain. I scrub until my skin is raw and rush home, praying Dale will be there. Why? Why do I do that?” She cupped my cheeks. “Because you clearly fell in love with my brother when you weren’t looking but were too terrified of being hurt again to open up and let yourself acknowledge it.” The song changed and I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard what Drew decided on. It was a redone version of These Boots Were Made for Walking. It had a dance vibe to it while having a distinct country sound to it. Lauren was on me in an instant, dancing and singing along. I shook my head. “You don’t have the accent. Here, like this.” I began to sing with the music. I pulled out some of the line dancing skills I’d learned living back home and Lauren followed. A group of men approached. Lauren and I wagged our brows. She leaned over. “Bet they don’t treat you like shit. I bet they worship the ground you walk on.” “Liz, don’t do this,” Dale said, his voice low. I arched a brow. “I think it’s time I took the bull by the horns and fuck anyone I want to. Or, rather, give them a lame lay, but you know what I mean.” “Liz-B.” I swallowed hard my stomach clenching as the room seemed to shift again. “What?” “I love you. I’ve loved you from the moment I met you. I was jealous of Charles, Liz. That’s why I opened my mouth and inserted my foot. I didn’t mean anything I said. I love you, honey.” Megan gasped. “Did he just...?” Paige nodded. “Uh-huh. He said he loved her.” Another wave of dizziness hit me and I was powerless to stop it. Paige’s blue eyes were the last thing I saw before darkness enveloped me.

 

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Chapter Eleven I stirred slightly and opened my eyes slowly. Megan was bent down near my bed doing something. “Megs?” “Go back to sleep, Elizabeth,” she whispered. My head was pounding, so it sounded like a good idea to me. I let my head sink back into the pillow and drifted off slowly. I was just this side of sleep when I heard light murmuring. I tried to open my eyes but I was afraid my head would split open. It already felt as though someone had been prying at it with a crowbar. Someone tapped my arm and I peeked out at them reluctantly, ready and willing to bite if necessary. Paige sat on the edge of my bed holding a glass of water in her hand and a bottle of aspirin in the other. “Here--,” she handed me three tablets, “--take these and then get some rest.” I obeyed and no sooner did she leave the room then I was out again. When I drifted awake again, I felt something warm pressed against me. My back was ice cold in comparison. Needing to warm myself, I snuggled against the warmth. It was familiar. I moved in closer, until I could go no further. The warmth seemed to wrap around me and I let it. Something silky inched up and over my back and shoulders, totally taking away the chill. The sound of classical music playing lightly pulled me slightly from my sleepy state. There was only one man who loved silk sheets and classical music. “Mmm, how did I get here? The last thing I remember was doing shots with my girlfriends. Oh, I didn’t call and wake you up did I?” Running my hand over the warmth in front of me, I groaned slightly. “Are you happy with yourself? You finally got me to stay over. I’d be nicer, but I like waking up in my own bed. It smells like patchouli and spice.” Shifting slightly against him, my bare leg brushed over his silk pajama bottoms and an unpleasant thought occurred. “You did wear something didn’t you? Don’t lie. I’ll check the trash. I know how you are and my answer has not and will not change. No slipping anything in me without a condom.” He tightened and I ran my fingers over his smooth chest lightly. “When did you shave your chest? I’ve only been after you to do that for months.” “Hmm,” he murmured so light I almost didn’t hear him. I yawned and arched my back, pressing my bare breasts to him as I went. Rolling over onto my side, I snuggled back against him. “Before you fall back asleep and while you’re almost naked and can’t be behind a suit to yell at me—I’m going to turn a formal resignation in when I get back. Now, before you say a word just hear me out. The pressure at work about us is to the point I dread going in. It’s for the best that I move on. I live below my means and my friend Jeffrey is a financial advisor who has been helping me make the right investments, so I’ll be fine. In fact, I think I might actually take a few months and spend them home with my family. I could get lucky and find a position in Cleveland. That’s easily within driving range to Fairfield.” I rolled my shoulders, trying to work the kink out in my neck and thought about opening my eyes, but the jack-hammering going on inside of it warned not to. “I am not as naïve as many  

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think I am. We mean nothing more than sex to each other. And if you’re worrying that this will affect productivity, I happen to have that figured out too. Give Jenkins my job and make Corbin your V.P., he’s a marketing genius. I’m always going to him for help instead of the other way around. You’ve seen it too or you wouldn’t keep offering him promotions. Trust me. He’ll get the job done. Now, go back to sleep. I’m going to head home and get cleaned up. A person could get lost in your bathroom.” I covered my eyes with my hand and opened them. In the darkness of my hand I was still good. “You wouldn’t happen to have sunglasses in that bedside drawer full of condoms and very bizarre toys would you? I’m afraid to open my eyes. I think they may pop out of my head.” He didn’t respond. Odd. Normally, Charles was always up for a bit of joking. I kept my hand over my eyes and rolled to face him. “You’re really quiet--,” taking a deep breath in, the scent of patchouli and spice filled me, “--and really smell like Dale ... err ... I mean different. Yes, umm, different. I’m hung over and I was just talking about him. Sorry about that.” “Open your eyes, Liz.” I went rigid at the sound of Dale’s voice. Why the hell was Dale in Charles’ bed? And why was I naked next to him? “Where are we?” “In our bedroom ... umm ... your bedroom.” Peeking through my fingers, I saw a smooth tawny chest in front of me. The feel of satin sliding over my bare skin caught my attention. I looked down and my mouth dropped. “Who put satin sheets on the bed?” Dale chuckled. “That would be Megan. She said she bought you a pair a few years back and that you never use them. I found them on the top shelf of the living room closest. She then yanked them out of my hands and brought them in here.” “Oh,” I said, making eye contact with him. “I’m sorry that I thought....” Dale looked away and opened his mouth slightly, running his tongue on the inside of his cheek. “I was Charles?” I nodded and went to sit up. Dale grabbed me quickly. Before I could think, he had me rolled onto my back and was on top of me. Pushing on his hard chest, I couldn’t get him to budge. The devilish smile Dale gave me meant he wasn’t about to get off. “Move.” He lifted a light brown brow, daring me to challenge him. “No.” Stunned, I grunted. “Why?” “You called me another man’s name.” He had to be kidding. There was no way I was about to put up with one of his games. Not today. Not ever again. Outraged, I pushed my whole body up in an attempt to buck him off. It only served to make him smile more. “You called me a lame lay.” “No, I did not call you a lame lay.” Disgusted, I rolled my eyes. “Now who is splitting hairs?” “I’m sorry.” “For splitting hairs? Wonderful. Apology accepted. Now, get off me.” Dale pressed his forehead to mine. Our lips brushed ever so slightly, and I had to fight the feelings that began to stir in me. I would not allow myself to be attracted to Dale. “I’m sorry for saying vicious, hurtful, untrue things to you.” I gritted my teeth and averted my gaze. “From the look on your face, you don’t think I’m serious.” Dale pushed his knee between  

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my legs and slowly began to spread them. “Looks like I’m left no choice but to prove how very sorry I am.” “You have got to be kidding me,” I said in a dry tone. I looked past him and noticed that he’d closed the white mosquito netting over the bed. Whenever either of us slept on the bed, we tucked it back behind the headboard. Having it all around us gave the moment an intimacy I wasn’t sure I wanted it to have. Dale pressed his silk covered groin against the mound of my pussy and my breath caught. My body refused to listen to my head. The more my mind told it that no part of me was attracted to Dale, the more it begged to differ. As a last ditch effort to stop the inevitable, I tried to piss Dale off enough to leave. “Get off me, Dale. I thought you were Charles. I said things I’d only say to him. That can’t sit well with you. So, drop the act and get off me. I rather not ‘have a roll’ with you this morning.” Dale rotated his hips slightly, pressing himself against me more. Moving his head to the side, he kissed my neck softly and licked my lower earlobe, almost making me give into him. “Yes, I’m hurt. But I learned some interesting things. One, you like it when your sheets smell like me.” My jaw dropped, and I tried to protest. Dale brought his hand up quickly and covered my mouth with it. “No, let me finish. You don’t let him touch you without wearing something and I can’t even begin to tell you how relieved I am to hear that. You were more than willing to go to bat for me over a position I don’t want even after the way I’d treated you. And last but not least, you thought of me while you assumed it was him here with you. Don’t tell me you didn’t either. Dale and the word different aren’t that close.” He released my mouth and smiled at me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to headbutt him, bite him, or just flat out start pinching any available skin. How he read that far into everything I’d said was beyond me. He was so incredibly off base it wasn’t even funny. Wasn’t he? He put his lips directly above mine and stared at me with his emerald green eyes. “If I kiss you, will you bite me?” I chuckled. He knew me well. “Maybe.” “Hmm, how bad do you think it will hurt,” he whispered, his sweet breath moving over my skin lightly. Tilting up, I brushed my lips over his quickly. “How bad do you think you hurt me?” He stiffened above me, closed his eyes, and put his forehead against mine again. “I’m sorry.” I’d known Dale long enough to hear the pain in his voice. I wasn’t willing to let my guard down completely, but we’d spent too many years together to not give him a tiny chance. I traced the side of his face with my fingers and closed my eyes. “Don’t do it again.” “Again?” Dale asked, sounding hopeful. “Does that mean you’re going to let me have another shot?” “Yes, but only at being friends. Nothing else.” I pushed on his shoulder and this time he slid off me and settled down next to me. I pulled the crimson sheets up to cover my breasts. “Do you want me to make breakfast?” Dale licked the corner of his mouth and looked at me with questing eyes. “Will you ever let me any closer than just a friend?” Would I? I honestly wasn’t sure and that scared me. I liked things laid out nice and neat. This was anything but nice or neat. Since there really was no point in telling him that, I went  

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with a change of subject. “What do you say we eat?” Dale sighed. “I’m not very hungry.” I leaned into him a bit. “Dale, you have to eat something. You get a headache if you don’t eat a little something for breakfast. You don’t like to tell me, but I notice you rubbing your eyes and temples throughout the morning. Just eat and I won’t worry about you.” A tiny grin appeared on his handsome face. “I’ll eat in a bit. I think I’ll lay here a bit. You go ahead.” There was something he wasn’t telling me. Slowly, I sat up. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Not only was the mosquito net I’d always loved enclosing us, but white candles lined every available space in the room plus some. Each was lit and the flames danced in unison, creating patterns on the wall. Since the room had no window in it, it was dark unless a light was on or the door was open. Now the room’s soft glow illuminated everything. I leaned forward and found several oval mirrors without frames lying on the hardwood floor. Several candles were placed on each one and lit. The mirrors made it hard to tell where the candles started and stopped. Tiny white flower petals were scattered everywhere imaginable. There were so many that in certain places around the room, it looked as though it had snowed. No one had ever done anything close to this for me. It was beyond beautiful. “Do you like it?” Dale asked softly. I reached out to him and he took my hand in his. “I ... Dale ... how?” “Then you like it?” “I don’t even have words to tell you how much.” Marvin Gaye began to play from the stereo in the other room. My first reaction was that someone had finally found the damn remote to the main stereo system. My second was that someone was here with us. I stared at the closed bedroom door and then at Dale. “Who’s here?” He stayed lying on his side and propped his head up on his hand. “Lie down. They’re just finishing a few things up. That’s all.” “Oh.” I went to lie back and stopped. “Wait. Who is finishing up a few things and for what?” Dale arched a brow and ran his eyes up and down me. A sly smiled spread over his face. “You’ll see.” I yanked on his hand and threw him a wary look. “Please tell me why I’m naked in our bed when there are other people out there?” “Our bed?” Something passed over his face as he gave a Gallic shrug. “Guess.” “Dale,” I said, laughing softly. It was hard not to revert into old habits with him. He just lay grinning mischievously at me. I started to climb out of the bed, and he caught hold of my thigh, stopping me dead in my tracks and sending heat radiating through me. “Don’t go, Liz-B. They’ve been working since we got you home last night. Well, Megan and Paige have been. Lauren just got here, but she was almost as bad as you so it’s understandable.” I narrowed my gaze on him. “What do you mean, as bad as me?” A confused look passed over Dale’s face. “Don’t you remember what happened last night?” My eyes widened as I opened the sheet and then stared at him in his black silk bottoms. “We didn’t. Did we? We couldn’t have. No.” Dale looked a bit offended. “Hey, I think you would have remembered if we did that.” I snorted and looked away. “Yeah, it’s the forgetting that’s hard.”  

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Sighing, he tugged on my hand. “Liz, lie down. Let me talk to you.” I snarled at him. “You sit up. And wipe that smug look off your face.” I wanted to push him out of the bed. If I wasn’t afraid the sheets would catch fire, I would have. “I can’t sit up. Paige threatened to have me gelded if I dare move from this spot or screw this up in any way, shape, or form.” That sounded like something Paige would say. But what was the point of putting Dale in bed with me and doing all of this. “They’re crazy if they think I’m ever touching you again. If they wanted me to screw someone so badly, why didn’t they find a stranger, anyone, why you? Gawd, at least have the decency to find me a man who will pretend he enjoyed himself after we’re done. I don’t think that’s asking for too much. Do you?” Dale was so quiet that I glanced over, out of habit, to make sure he was okay. He had his head down and his shoulders slumped. He shook slightly and it chipped away at the pain I was trying desperately to hide. It hit me then that I was lashing out at him the same way he had at me. Tugging on his hand, I pulled him towards me. “Dale, I’m sorry. You apologized and I know you were sincere. I didn’t mean to....” He sat up and moved himself behind me on the bed. I kept hold of his hand and wrapped it around the front of me. I didn’t want to let go or push him away. I leaned forward, allowing him to wrap his large, long legs around me, effectively straddling me from behind. Dale pressed his body close to mine and hugged me tight to his chest. “How much do you remember about last night?” “I remember everything you said.” He hugged me tighter and I kept going, “I remember they decided to have another shot-a-thon. That’s it.” He kissed my shoulder and held his lips there for a minute. “Mmm, enough of that or I’ll never get to tell you what they did. Okay, you passed out at the club and we got you home and cleaned up.” I looked back at him and rolled my eyes. “We?” “Hey, don’t look at me like that. It was Paige’s idea. She insisted you wouldn’t want to wake up smelling like bar smoke and liquor. All I did was put you in the tub. Well, that and spot your head so you wouldn’t drown. They made me stare the other way so long that I may never get the kink out of my neck. So have no fear, she and Megan handled the rest and I got you out when they were done.” Waking up smelling like smoke and booze did suck. But did they have to have Dale present? That was more than a bit humiliating. “I put you in bed and they ordered me to stay out of the way while they did their thing. This isn’t even all of it, Liz. They love you and wanted this to be special for us.” Dale ran his fingertips down my spine, making me shiver and lean forward fast. He didn’t stop. Brushing my hair to the side, he planted a tiny kiss on my neck. “I wanted this to be special for us.” Trying to fight the urge to climb onto my hands and knees and beg him to join with me, I tried to focus on anything but his tender kisses. “So they went to all this trouble just for us?” Dale nibbled at the back of my earlobe. His breathing intensified and each tiny suck, each tiny sigh had my chest heaving and body tingling. “Like I said, they seem to think we’re good together.” Licking along the outer edge of my ear, Dale made tiny circles as he purred lightly. I gasped and he bit lightly at my ear. “I agree with them. Do you agree?” Any rational thought remaining chose that moment to abandon me. Reaching up, I slid my arm back behind his head and held him to me. Dale moved his hand downward and pushed it under the satin sheet. The moment his hand touched my bare hip the fire he was so good at  

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creating flared through me. I scooted back more and rocked my body slightly against his. His hard erection greeted me and I paid close attention to rocking in a way that would best stimulate him. Instantly, he was clutching my hip, holding me still and breathing rapidly. “Dale?” “Ahh, how is it that you can drive me to the point I’m about to come and all you’ve done is put your body against mine?” Arching a brow, I smiled wickedly. “Talent I guess.” He snorted. “That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.” “You can quit kissing my ass now. You’re out of the doghouse. You’re now allowed to roam the yard but that’s it.” It was Dale who rocked against me this time. “Mmm, Liz-B, kissing my way to your ass is on my list of things to do today.” Moisture collected between my legs. Taking hold of Dale’s hand, I moved it off my hip and brought it to my mouth. I kissed the back of his hand and made my way down his middle finger. When I reached the end, I drew it into my mouth slowly, making sure to roll my tongue over it as I did. Dale groaned and pressed his body against me harder. “Liz....” “Mmmhmm,” I hummed over his finger. For a minute, Dale sounded as though he’d been burned but I knew better. “Something the matter?” “Ahh, no ... I’m good,” his voice cracked as he answered me. Clearing his throat, he leaned up a bit. “So, does this mean I’m getting another chance at being more than just a friend?” Smiling, I pulled his finger out of my mouth and placed my finger over his. I brought them over my hip, my thigh, and stopped when I reached my pussy. I parted my outer lips with our joined fingers. Dale sucked in a breath as I inserted his finger first into my hot, wet core and followed it closely with my own. Instantly, I was stretched and leaning back on him to give him deeper access. “Breathe, Dale.” He exhaled shakily, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I used my finger to encourage him to move his. It worked. Dale pressed deep into me and rocked his hips against me as he continued to kiss along my neck, ear, and shoulder. I jerked when his thumb ran over my clit, making it swell instantly. He did it again, leaving me jerking once more. Dale chuckled softly. “Aren’t paybacks a bitch?” I smiled. “Paybacks?” “Uh-huh,” he rubbed my clit again, “I was already so hard it was painful, then you go and help me finger you. Are you trying to kill me?” I kept my hand over his, guiding him as he sent tiny jolts of delight through my body. “No, I’m not trying to kill you. I’m trying to tell you that you’ve got your second chance, as more than a friend, don’t blow it.” “Ahhh! She said yes!” I heard Megan’s voice a second before the door flew open. Dale yanked the sheet up to cover me as I stared at the empty doorway. Odd. Very, very odd. “Get off me, your heel is digging in my leg.” I heard Lauren but didn’t see her. Megan growled. “I didn’t mean it. You told me you locked the door.” “I forgot.”  

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Megan poked her head up at the foot of the bed and had her eyes shut tight. I moved back into Dale fast. “You two ignore us and go back to what you were doing. Pretend we aren’t even here.” Dale laughed so hard that it reverberated through me. The longer he laughed the less I could stop myself from joining him. Megan gave us an odd look while still managing to keep her eyes closed and ducked down again. Lauren’s head of long loose, wavy hair popped up next. “Dammit, Paige, get up!” “I can’t,” she answered. “Why not?” Paige groaned. “Because if I see my brother naked I’ll have to gouge my eyes out and bump my monthly visit to my therapist up to four times a week. This is already too much. I heard him talk about wanting to kiss her ass—literally--and then he had to go and bring up how hard he is. Someone get me a bucket. I’m going to be sick.” I laughed. Dale didn’t. He dropped his head against my shoulder and shook it slightly. “Never, ever, ever do I want to hear her making any sort of reference to my penis again.” “Ouch! Get off my hair!” Megan yelled. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were there. I’ve got my eyes closed. I’d really rather not see Dale’s stark white ass,” Lauren said. I snorted and calmed myself enough to speak, “His naked ass is the same color as the rest of him. At least I think it is. Whip that sucker out, Dale. Give them a good show.” He squeezed me tight and growled. “Don’t encourage them.” “Don’t mind us really. We’ll be out of here in just a ... Oww, oww, off! You’re on my finger,” Megan said, making me laugh harder. “For the love of dick, would someone peek and see if Dale’s got anything showing that may scar us for life so we can get up?” Lauren asked, sounding extremely anxious. “Lauren, I vote that we make Paige do it. She is his sister after all. So, they probably took baths together as kids.” Dale put his lips against my ear and whispered softly, “I am no longer painfully hard. In fact, I may never work again.” I laughed softly and whispered back to him, “Aww, and I was so hoping you’d....” He wiggled his body against mine, keeping his mouth pressed to my ear and kissed me lightly. “Spend the day ramming my hard cock into you every way possible? Yeah, I was hoping for that too.” My entire body responded to his words. Images of him doing that very thing flashed before me, only serving to excite me more. “We did not need to know what you wanted to spend your day doing, Dale.” Lauren got to her feet and turned several times, obviously unclear which way she was facing. “I so heard that, Dale! Learn to whisper softer than that! Hell, learn to whisper period!” Paige shouted. “My ears need gouging out now. Elizabeth, how can you stomach hearing him say that?” “Paige, I’m not only stomaching it, I’m picturing it in my head and let me tell you that if he holds true to my images, he’ll be my top ranked man at our next rating of the cocks convention. In fact, he may be the man who wins top pick of the year. We can then eat those chocolate penis suckers you’ve been saving in your freezer in honor of him.” Dale groaned. Paige whimpered, sounding strangely like she was about to cry or be sick.  

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Megan cackled. At least someone, besides me, thought it was funny. Lauren headed straight for us. Afraid she’d fall into the net and bed with us, I decided to help her out. “You’re getting colder.” Dale sat up straight. “Yeah, really friggin’ cold. Turn around before you freeze to death.” She stopped and put a hand on her hip. “Are you naked?” I went to answer but Dale beat me to it. “I’m not telling.” I spun and stared at him with wide eyes. “What? They brought it on themselves.” He did have a point. If they hadn’t been listening in then they wouldn’t be spread out on the floor. Tipping my head back, I pressed my finger to my lips to tell him to be quiet. He nodded and kissed the other side of my finger tenderly. I didn’t break eye contact with him as I began operation ‘teach them a lesson.’ “Dale?” I asked in a whisper that they could obviously hear. “Yeah.” I continued to keep my voice low. “Is that supposed to go there?” Raising his eyebrows, he bit the corner of his lip and did his very best to keep an even low tone. “Baby, it’ll be okay. Just relax. This is something I’ve been dying to do to you for years. When I heard you liked it, I knew I had to try. Mmm, every time you bend over wearing one of those tiny thongs, all I can think about was walking up and taking you from behind.” Three collective gasps followed that comment. I yelped and smiled at Dale. “No, wait until they’re gone. I’m not sure I can stay quiet for that ... Dale ... Your sister is in here. Do you want her to know that you’re trying to stick your....” Dale started to laugh, and I twisted a bit to be able to reach his lips. Pressing my hand over his mouth, I went on, “We need more lubricant. It’s too big. It won’t fit. Uhh, hurry.” Dale mouthed the word “evil” and went back to trying not to laugh. I gave another tiny yelp and then began to pant loud enough for them to hear but not loud enough to be obvious. I bounced up and down as best I could in a seated position. It worked to make the bed squeak a bit. Paige squeaked as well. Although, hers was louder than the bed’s and sounded painful. “Ah ... uh ... umm ... do you guys ... think you could ... uhhhhh ... hurry up and go?” I asked, doing my best to sound like I was having sex while trying to talk. Dale made a slight choke/laugh sound, and I had to plant my hand firmly over his mouth to keep him from laughing out loud. “Please, hu-r-r-y.” “Oh Christ. I’ll look. If I have to listen to another second of this I’ll have to gouge my ears out too!” Lauren shouted. “I’m standing up you two. You better be covered.” She popped up and cracked an eye open. When she caught sight of the two of us sitting there trying not to laugh at her, she pointed at us and shook her head. The “shame, shame” face she made was classic. Paige stood up next but kept her eyes closed tight. “Is it safe?” Lauren winked at us. “Ohmygod Dale! You’re huge! I mean, I suspected that you had to be toting around some decent equipment, considering the size of your biceps alone, but damn boy. That should come with a warning label.” The color from Paige’s face drained. She rapidly fanned her face and swayed slightly. I pointed at Lauren. “Take her home before she passes out or pukes on the floor.” Megan stood and looked over at us. “Hey! That was just wrong.” I sat up a bit. “Hey.” Everyone but Paige looked at us.  

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“Thank you for doing all of this. It’s beautiful and I love it. And at the risk of sounding sentimental, I love you guys too.”

 

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Chapter Twelve I tucked the satin sheet tighter around me. Bending down, I picked some of the white petals up off the floor. I brought them to my face and took a deep breath in. They smelled glorious. I looked down at the floor and spotted even tinier petals. Picking them up, I put them with the rest. The champagne rose petals were easy to spot as were the lilies. But the small ones threw me. “Hey, why are you out of bed?” Dale asked, coming back into the bedroom and shutting the door. “I was going to get dressed and get going for the day. It’s already close to ten.” “You don’t want to finish what we started?” Pushing the tiny petal around my hand, I wracked my brain to come up with what they were. I knew it would be one of those things that once I heard it I’d be ticked I hadn’t guessed it. “I thought you said you ... umm ... wouldn’t be able to perform.” “Uhh, I was kind of hoping you’d lend a hand with that.” My lips curved into a smile. “Really?” “If you’re not too busy playing with the flower petals.” He came and stood before me. “I give up. What kind of flower is the small one?” “Think about it a minute. What do you tell me every time a guy sends you roses?” I didn’t want to answer him because I was holding roses in my hand as we spoke. “Umm, that they’re wonderful.” Dale laughed and knelt down next to me. Placing his hand on my arm, he tipped his head down and caught my eye. He was so incredibly handsome. It was hard not to just focus on him. “No, you say that roses don’t show much thought even though everyone thinks they do. Everyone gives roses but wouldn’t it be nice to have someone actually put some thought behind what they give you.” I thought about what Dale was saying. He’s right. I did think it was very impersonal to send a bouquet of roses to someone. I preferred to send a flower that reminded me of that person in some way. I looked back down at the contents in my hand. My gaze flickered quickly to where the painting he’d had made for me hung. The candle light barely lit it fully, but it was enough for me to the see the daisies in it. My eyes began to sting and my neck muscles tightened as emotions swept over me. I put my head down, not wanting him to see me cry. Grabbing my chin, Dale lifted it slightly and smiled. “Guess I do remember everything you’ve told me.” He patted my knee gently. “Come on, let’s get you dressed.” I let him pull me to my feet. As he went to walk towards the wardrobes, I pulled him back to me. He opened his mouth to say something, and I used that opportunity to kiss him. Thrusting my tongue in his mouth, I didn’t bother with a long build up. I wanted him. Needed to taste him. My hands went to the sides of his face and his fell in place around my waist. Our heads bobbed back and forth as we sampled each other, exploring every inch of the other’s mouth. I moved down a bit, kissing his dimpled chin. I kissed Dale’s neck, taking extra care to lick around his pronounced Adam’s apple, on my way to his collarbone. I continued on, kissing, licking, nibbling on his upper chest. Splaying my fingers over his torso, I ran my fingertips over  

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his feverous skin so softly that at points I wasn’t even sure I was touching him. Dale’s chest always fascinated me regardless of how many times I saw it. I still couldn’t understand how his skin could be so smooth and rippled. He was like watching a Greek sculpture move. “Liz....” Dale tugged lightly on me. I refused to go back up. I squatted down as far as I could before just going to my knees. The sheet around me began to loosen. I shifted a bit and went to work planting tiny kisses under Dale’s navel. The tiny, light brown line of hair that started there acted as my guide. Dragging my fingers down his sides, taking care not to actually scratch him, I stopped when I reached the top of his silk pajama bottoms. “Liz, I think we should....” Glancing up, I stared at Dale and didn’t say a word as I moved my face towards his groin. His masculine scent filled me, making my pace speed in an attempt to get to him sooner. I put my cheek against his silk clad erection and rubbed myself against him like a cat. Dale jerked and tried to pull me up against him. I pulled down quickly on his bottoms, freeing his cock and taking it in my hand, stopping him in mid-motion. Our gazes locked. Time seemed to slow as I ran my tongue out and over the thick mushroom-shaped head of his penis. Dale’s mouth fell open but no sound came from him. I took hold of the base of his shaft and held his skin taut while I licked a long line up the underside. He tried to back away, and I used my free hand to reach around and hold tight to his ass, keeping him to me. For the first time since I’d known Dale, I took a look at what he had to offer. Small veins lined his erection. It was a few shades darker than his skin, only the head was a lighter, pinkish color. And oh what a head it was. I could still remember the feel of it in me. I’d been right. It was the size of a plum and currently looked as juicy as one as well. He was thick the entire way down to the base where it nestled into a thatch of short clipped curls. Trust Dale to maintain his pubic hair too. There was nothing about him that he didn’t take care of. “Liz?” Ignoring him, I touched the tip of my tongue to the tip of his dick and flicked it back and forth rapidly. Dale seized hold of my shoulders. At first, I thought he would try to push me away. As I felt his leg shake, I knew he was using me to keep from falling. “Are you okay?” Dale looked down at me and pulled his face back slightly. “I ... I ... think so.” I flashed him a naughty smile and focused on his cock again. A tiny bit of pre-come leaked out of the top. I caught it with my tongue, moaning softy as I swallowed. It was sweet and I wanted more. Dale’s breath hitched and I took that as a sign he might very well fall soon. Not wanting to leave this undone, I encircled his penis with my mouth and slid down. He kept one hand on my shoulder and moved the other to the back of my hair. I continued to take him in until he hit the back of my throat. My gag reflex kicked in and it took a minute for me to adjust his presence that deep in my throat. “Oh, God ... Liz,” Dale whispered. Seeing that there was still exposed shaft, I quickly wrapped my fingers around his base. I twisted, in a corkscrew manner. Each hand twisted in the opposite direction. Once I found my rhythm, I moved my head up and down, slowly at first. “Uhh ... fall ... going to fall.” Looking up through veiled eyelids, I gave him a look with my eyes to tell him he’d be just fine. I hoped. I moved my mouth over him, sliding up and down, feeling him twitch beneath my touch.  

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Dale didn’t guide my head so much as he cupped it, preventing it from going too far from him. “Liz ... off.” As usual, I ignored him. I felt his balls tightened near my fingers and worked my mouth over him even faster. Dale shuddered and a hot stream of fluid filled the back of my throat. I didn’t pull off him, nor did I stop moving up and down. I kept him in my mouth and continued to suck until I knew he had nothing left in him. Dale staggered a bit. Laughing, I pulled off him and rose slowly to my feet. “Do you need to sit down?” His green eyes widened. “I can’t believe that I’m going to admit this, but yeah, I need to sit down.” I couldn’t believe my ears. “What? With all the women you date you’ve never lost your balance at the end?” Dale stepped out of his bottoms and sat down on the edge of the bed. Running a hand through his shaggy hair, he looked up at me and shook his head. “No. That has never happened to me before.” “Hmm.” I straightened my sheet and shrugged. “First time for everything.” Dale caught me around the waist and pulled me between his open legs. Something passed over his face and his brow furrowed. “I know I’m going to regret asking this, but have you had men do that before?” Why did I feel as though I were being set up? I eyed him cautiously before giving him my answer. “A few, yes.” He huffed. “I’m afraid to ask what the rest do.” “They actually fall. Then they only let me suck them off while they’re lying down, or at the very least, sitting.” I covered my mouth with my hand, hoping it would contain any more outbursts. Dale just stared at me with a blank face. Quickly, I gave him a tiny jab in the arm. “Ha, you thought I was serious. Pffft, I wish. You’re the first man to ever have issues with it. Come to think about it, you’re the only man I’ve ever gone down on.” “Liz.” Oh, great. Here it comes. “Yeah?” “I have a past and you have a past. Let’s just leave it at that and if I should ever ask a question even close to that one, don’t answer me.” The warm smile that spread over his face calmed me down. Pulling him to me, I cradled his head against my stomach as I held him tight. “Was it the ‘I’ve never gone down on a man besides you’ thing that gave me away?” “Yeah.” “Damn. I’ll work on that.” Dale pulled back slightly and kissed my stomach. It grumbled, and he laughed. “See, you are always hungry.” Stepping back, I let my gaze fall to his sated cock. “Hmm, maybe we should feed me before I decide to eat something else you may need in a little bit.” “Liz, you are aware that talk like that will keep you flat on your back in our bedroom, aren’t you?” Our bedroom? Had we always referred to this room as ours? I couldn’t remember.  

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“Seems to me that the only place you’ve had me flat on my back would be the bathroom.” I gave him a daring look. “I’m starting to think you’re all talk. Now, feed me--I’m hungry. Then I’ll make you prove yourself to me.” Standing slowly, he grabbed his bottoms off the floor and slipped them on. He took hold of my cheeks and pulled me to him. Dale kissed my lips so sweetly, so tenderly that I found myself leaning into him and wanting to kick a foot up. The last time I’d felt that way, I’d been twelve and it had been my first kiss. Pulling back, he kept hold of my face and looked me over carefully. “You’re smiling.” “So are you.” “I know. Mmm, now let’s get some food in you.” He took hold of my hand and started to move with me, only to come to a complete stop. “Don’t move. I’m not blowing out the candles yet because I’m not done with you. And I’d really rather not have you go up in flames. I’ll grab a shirt for you so you’re not dragging a long, flammable sheet.” I rolled my eyes and laughed. “You’re just thinking about how expensive these sheets are. I know you.” Dale leaned out from around the L-turn. He clutched the wardrobe’s side and tapped it lightly. “Actually, I was thinking of how irreplaceable you are but now you that mention it, those were well over three-hundred dollars.” The wink he gave me before he disappeared damn near made me have to sit down. Sure, it would take something as simple as a wink to do me in. He reappeared with the top to the bottoms he had on. Dale normally slept in loose cotton bottoms. I had seen him on occasion in silk ones. I’d even cut my finger when I was chopping a pepper, and he walked out in a pair to help me with dinner. He never said it, but I’m fairly sure he knew that he’d been what distracted me. “Here you go,” he said, handing me the black three button silk top. “I have my own clothes here you know.” Dale undid the buttons and wrapped the smooth fabric around me. “I know but I like the idea of seeing you in mine. Don’t worry, I’m making a mental list of all the lingerie you have and try to come up with a wish list to give you.” I hesitated. “Dale, are you going to freak out on me if I spill something on this because I think we both know I will.” “Put your arms in,” he instructed as he started to undo the sheet wrapped around me. Sliding my arms in, I watched him carefully, trying to guess what he was thinking. I couldn’t. Not being one known for my patience, I decided to just ask, “A penny for your thoughts.” He opened the sheet and just stood there. His eyes were the only part of him that moved. They seemed to linger over my breasts before continuing downward. “I’m just thinking about how amazingly beautiful you are.” “I’ll give you two pennies if you never say that to me again.” “Nope. Not worth it. I’ll get it tattooed on my arm if you tell me not to say it again.” That made me laugh. The idea of Dale marring any part of his perfect body was hysterical all in itself. I’d never even seen him have so much as a blemish. “Before you go putting something permanent on your body, you should try to shave just once a day. See if you can make it with stubble for an afternoon. It’s called taking baby steps, sweetheart.” Dale just stood there, staring at me. For the first time ever, I wanted to cover myself in front of him. Heat moved through me, and I knew I was blushing. I tried to pull the shirt together but  

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Dale caught my hands in his. “No, let me just look at you a minute, Liz.” Annoyed, I blew a piece of stray hair from my face and rolled my eyes. “You’ve seen me naked before. And, didn’t you tell me that you put me in the tub, held my head, and then got me out?” The crafty slight smile he gave told me I was right. “Uh-huh, but they made me stare at the wall. And--,” he bent down before me, “--they didn’t let me do this.” Dale drew my nipple into his mouth and sucked greedily on it, making my insides jerk and threaten to ignite. He pulled off, blowing gently, watching as my nipple rose in his direction, responding to him. Tracing his fingers along my side, he sent shivers down me. Dale moved to my other breast and gave that nipple equal attention, sucking, blowing, arousing it. I felt his hand press against my mound. “And when I mentioned you were shaved, they hit me and wouldn’t let me do this,” he said, spreading me open as he kissed his way down my stomach. My belly tightened as he knelt down before me. The tiny kisses he was placing on my upper thighs stimulated me enough as it was, if he went any further I’d join him in the ranks of needing to sit down. “Dale....” Dale glanced up at me as he inserted one of his long fingers into me. I tried to step back but he thrust another one in and began to swirl them slowly. He pressed his mouth against my slit, and the moment I felt his warm tongue caressing my clit, my knees weakened. My hands instantly went to his shaggy hair. I held it gently, needed to use him only as a focal point to keep from crumbling. He chuckled into my pussy--the sound shook me, vibrated through my swollen bud, causing me to jerk. He increased his thrusts, sending his fingers deep into me. “Ahh ... please, Dale.” I heard myself beg him, but I wasn’t sure what exactly I was begging him for. I just knew that I needed something, and I needed it now. Dale drew my clit into his mouth and began a series of back and forth licks. The backs of my legs twitched and I felt it all the way through my butt and lower back. Whatever he was doing was causing involuntary movements throughout my lower half, and it was wonderful. I hugged his head tighter to me. Deep within me, pressure began to build. I tipped my head back and moaned softly. I rotated my hips and the pleasure inside me intensified. Dale moaned, digging his face into me, licking, swirling. I tried to hold it back, the pinnacle point where I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop my own actions. I failed. Increasing my motion, I rubbed my pussy against Dale’s mouth wildly and gripped his hair tighter than I should. Instantly, my entire body went rigid. A tingle sensation started in my toes and swarmed up me, through my legs, my womb. I continued to ride Dale’s face, prolonging the pleasure. It was too much, too powerful. I needed something to ground me, pull me down before taking me higher again. I pushed off him and broke contact. Still the tingling continued. Dale tried to rise. I dropped down to my knees before him and attacked his mouth with mine. The taste of my own essence only served to drive the insatiable need that had consumed me. Dale didn’t fight me. He returned each kiss. I still needed more, and I wanted it while I was still in the throes of the climax he’d given me. Leaning back, I pulled on the back of Dale’s neck and brought him with me.  

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My back hit the hardwood floor and I spread my legs wide. Dale followed me, still attached to my mouth. The feel of his warm body above me made it all seem right. Running my hands down his back, I traced over each muscle and went straight for his silk bottoms. I slid my hands under his waistband and moved one around his hip. Dale gasped as I cupped his sac and massaged it gently. Sliding my hand up his rock hard erection, I knew he was more than ready to go again. I pushed his bottoms down, freeing his cock and baring his ass. “No, Liz,” Dale said, between fiery kisses, “Not like this. Not our first time.” Ignoring him, I lined him up with my soaked core. “We can stop if you want.” Please say no. Dale nodded but kept kissing me. “Bed. Let’s move to the bed. I need to put a....” Taking hold of his shaft, I stroked it fast, letting the tip of it slip into me slightly. I couldn’t stop rubbing him. I needed him in me. “Mmmhmm, bed.” Suddenly, Dale seized hold of my wrists and yanked them above my head. He pinned them under his and thrust hard and deep in me, burying himself to the hilt. I cried out into his mouth and he drank it away with his kisses. He stayed there for a moment, with his body still and his breathing slow. I ground against him, wanting more. Slowly, Dale began to withdraw from me. I thought he’d exit completely. He didn’t. Instead, he slammed down into me and didn’t stop, didn’t slow. He pumped into me with a fierceness I never knew he had. I wanted to hold him, touch him, anything, but he wouldn’t loosen his grip on my wrists. Needing to caress him, I used my leg, lifting it more before running it over his thigh. Dale thrust into me, keeping his fast pace. I writhed beneath him. The walls of my channel began to clutch at his shaft, trying to hold it in me. Wet slapping noises came from us as our bodies stayed joined. “Dale....” Slowing just a hair, Dale’s body rubbed directly against my clit, instantly causing the overwhelming pleasure to return. I bit at his tongue lightly and felt my abdomen tightening. He freed my wrists, and I grabbed hold of his ass, squeezing it, guiding it as I hit my zenith. Every part of me wanted to claw at his flesh, mark him as mine. I didn’t. Extending my fingers outward, I was careful to touch him with only my palms as I panted hard into his mouth. Dale’s body stiffened and he began to pull out of me. Desperate to maintain contact with him, I yanked hard on his backside and wrapped my long legs around him, holding him tight to me. “Liz, no ... uhh,” Dale murmured as he slammed into me and held himself as he shot his seed deep within me, filling me, warming me. I pressed up against him, knowing he couldn’t move, and swayed slightly. He shuddered and brought his arms in tight to me, squeezing me tighter and tighter to the point it bordered on painful. He pulled his mouth away from mine and stared down at me with an expression I’d never seen him have—a blend of astonishment, satisfaction, lust, and caring. I wondered if my face looked the same. I know that was exactly how I felt. I grunted. “You’re squeezing me too tight.” “Oh,” he said, inching his arms out a bit, “Sorry. It was either squeeze you or press you through the hard floor. I took what I thought would be the least painful for you.” Laughing, I leaned up and kissed the tip of his nose. “Funny, I was of the opinion you did both.” Dale’s eyes widened, and he propped himself up above me. “Did I hurt you? Is your back  

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okay? I swear that I was going to pick you up and put you in the bed, but I couldn’t stop myself. I also wanted to—” I pressed my mouth to his to shut him up. It worked.

 

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Chapter Thirteen “Feeling better?” Dale asked as I finished pulling a wide-tooth comb through my wet hair. “I felt fine before. You were the one who has been staying at least three feet away from me since we had sex.” It was true. When Dale had pulled out, he’d gotten to his feet, pulled me up and then backed away like I was a leper. It was more than a little off putting. He’d not made a move to touch me again. Dale baulked. “I’ve not stayed away from you. I just thought you’d want to get cleaned up before we eat. Plus, this saves you a step before you go shopping today.” I noticed he didn’t include himself in the shopping trip. I tossed the comb into the basket on the shelf under the cabinet and tightened the red towel that was wrapped around me. “I take it you’re not coming along now.” Dale ran his fingers nervously over the waistband of his silk bottoms. He didn’t want to talk about any of this. Whatever this even was. “I, uhh ... I’ve got some errands I need to run. You go have fun with the girls and I’ll catch up with you tonight at Seth’s.” Errands, right. I smell a brush-off. “Are you at least staying to eat. You know what--it’s already close to noon. You might want get a quick shower and get a move on it. Seth and Jeffrey are expecting us all at eight. Be sure to call if something suddenly comes up and you can’t make it.” Dale nodded. “Yeah, of course. I don’t foresee anything coming up. Do you want me to pick up a something to take?” No, I want you to stop being a coward and avoiding the obvious problem you have right now. I held back. “No, I’ll handle it.” “Oh, I wanted to ask if you had tomorrow afternoon and early evening open?” I stared at him, wondering if the real Dale was going to pop out and yell boo. He didn’t. “I need to get packed tomorrow, but I think so. Why? Are we penciling each other in for things now? Hey, while you’re marking me down in your PDA, do you think you could set a little time aside when I get back from Ohio? I’d like to see you, even if it’s just for an hour or so.” Dale’s brow furrowed. “Liz, did I do something wrong?” What do you think? Someone knocked on the front door, keeping me from having to answer him. He turned to go answer it and I pushed past him. “I’ll get it. You should really get cleaned up. And you know it’s the match-making triplets checking on us.” I left him standing there. If he had issues with what we’d done then he was on his own. The only issue I currently had was that I’d given him another chance which he was fast preparing to blow. The sound of the shower running told me that he didn’t really care about going into his problems with me just yet. And that was fine. Tossing the bedroom door open, I froze. Large bouquets of flowers sat all over the whitewashed cabinet the television hid in. There were red and white roses in one tall, crystal vase. White lilies filled two other vases. The one that caught my attention was the holder that was tin but looked identical to a birdhouse. It was overflowing with white daisies. Startled by another loud knock on the door, I stopped staring at the flowers and went to the  

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door. “Does everyone have their eyes or was a gouging necessary?” I grabbed the handle and flung it open. Charles took a step in and leaned against the doorframe. He threw me for a minute because one, he was standing in front of me and two, he didn’t have a suit on. The light tan, cotton polo and matching suede jacket had been a gift from me. I’d gotten so sick of seeing him in a tie all the time I bought him other clothes for his birthday. This was the first time I’d seen him in them. I had to admit that he looked good. He managed to pair it with the black cotton pants I’d gotten him. I’d wanted to buy him jeans but knew he’d never wear them. Charles’ gaze ran over me. I knew that look. It was the one he wore right before sex. Having a horny lover in my doorway and a something in the shower was not a good combination. Especially, considering how they seemed to agree on the other not being involved with me. And the fun begins. “Now, why would I want to gouge my eyes out with you looking that good in a towel?” Charles asked, meeting my gaze and letting me know what he wanted. I forced a smile to my face and held the center of my towel tight, fearing he’d actually yank it off. He’d been known to do it before. “Hey you, what are you doing here? And who let you into the building?” “Not the reception I was looking for, but I’m here because we were supposed to meet for coffee this morning and it’s already noon. I was worried about you. You haven’t answered your phone and I’ve left messages on your machine and your cell’s voice mail.” He stepped in, forcing me to take a step back. “A tiny little blonde thing was walking out and held the door open for me. Or I would have just rung for you. Is there a problem with me being here?” I never heard either of my phones ring. It hit me that my well-meaning friends had most likely shut the ringers off. Charles cupped my neck in his large palm and backed me up a bit more. “Elizabeth, is there a reason you didn’t meet me this morning or answer my calls?” He ran his hand down and over the exposed portion of my breast before bringing it to my face. Pushing my hair back, Charles leaned into me and kissed my cheek gently. “You smell so good.” I pushed gently on his chest and turned my head a bit. “Umm, Charles....” “What’s all this?” he asked, staring at the bouquets of flowers. He glanced down at me and a small, tight-lipped grin spread over his face. “Do you have another admirer?” Refusing to allow him to trivialize this, I stood tall and put a bit of space between us. “That is not your business, Charles. I don’t ask you about other women, and you don’t ask me about other men. It works out perfectly.” Charles walked further into my apartment. I took hold of his arm, trying to stop him, but it didn’t work. “Let me guess, he’s young, good with the ladies, an all around funny guy, he’s got a sense of style--,” Charles touched one of the crystal vases and looked back at me “--has money, and wanted desperately to have sex with you.” His profiling abilities were frightening. Stunned by how accurate Charles had been, I stood there like an idiot as he moved towards my kitchen. Charles looked back at me with an almost sad expression. “Did it not quite work out, Elizabeth?” “What?” I asked, fumbling my way towards him. He lifted an unopened bottle of red wine off the counter and pointed down at an untouched buffet of food that I hadn’t even realized was there. There was a huge bowl of chopped fresh fruit. A large bowl of uncut strawberries sat next to it. There was plate of bagels and one of  

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muffins. Some sort of pastry sat to the side of those. Three different kinds of juice filled glass pitchers and various dips and spreads were littered throughout it all. Dale wasn’t joking. They really had worked all night to make this perfect. Charles ran his manicured finger over the top of the unopened wine bottles. “He has expensive taste, yet he didn’t bother to open it. That tells me that he was either unsuccessful in his quest for your bed or that--,” he narrowed his eyes on me, “--you didn’t make him work for it. You made me work for it, Elizabeth. Did you foolishly hand it over to him only to have him walk away?” “Charles!” I’d had enough of his psychoanalysis bullshit to suit me a lifetime. Yanking his hand off the wine as if it were hot, Charles shook his head slightly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I didn’t sleep well last night. Believe it or not, I was worried about you. Then you never called or came over this morning for coffee and I couldn’t get a hold of you. Then I show up here to find that while I was worried, you were sleeping with someone else.” He would figure out a way to make me feel guilty when I had no reason to. “I’m sorry, Charles. This wasn’t planned.” “Really?” he asked, looking around the room skeptically. “So, where is this mystery man?” “Charles, I have never asked to meet someone you’ve made love to.” He chuckled and it wasn’t friendly or kind. “Made love? Is that what you did? Hmm, you can’t tell me that he’s pulled the wool over your eyes this fast in the game, Elizabeth.” He closed the distance between us fast and took hold of my towel. “Please don’t tell me that you bought into all of this. I was young once too and at that age when I wanted a woman, I did the same things. Once I got what I wanted, I was done.” “Charles....” He didn’t let me finish. He pulled me nose to nose with him, still gripping my towel tight. “Music, flowers, gifts, anything that would work ... then the next morning, hell, the same day if we were done soon enough, I’d roll out of bed and invent reasons to not have to stay or hold her. I’d gotten what I’d come for, there was no point in staying.” Instantly, I thought about Dale keeping his distance from me and suddenly changing his mind about spending the day with me. No. Dale wasn’t like Charles. He wouldn’t have done all of this just for sex, would he? Charles kissed my cheek tenderly. “I can see it in your eyes, Elizabeth, he did that, didn’t he? When he was done with you he changed instantly.” “No,” I said, unable to meet Charles’ eyes. “Honey, you don’t have to lie to me. I’m not judging you. You’re young still and this all would be overwhelming. If this is what you want, I can give it to you and so much more. And you know I’ll be there come morning.” “It’s not what you think, Charles.” It wasn’t was it? If Charles, the king of womanizers, turned out to be right I would give up on men altogether. I’d shop the rest of my life away and die a very well-dressed spinster. Charles grabbed hold of the back of my thigh and pressed his body to mine. His warm breath skated over my neck as he leaned in close only to pull back and stare down at me. “If it’s not what I think, then tell me what it is. Is he special?” He rolled his blue eyes and huffed. “You’ve fallen for him, haven’t you?” “No.” Why did that feel like a lie too? He slid his hand up and cupped my bare ass cheek. I tried to back up but he squeezed me  

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tight and kept me close. “If you were special to him, he’d still be here.” “Charles, this isn’t any of your—” “See, it is my concern, Elizabeth. I do care what happens to you. Despite what people say about me, I do have the capacity to care. And when I see you being used it hurts me.” That made me laugh. “Why, because you aren’t the only one getting to use me?” Charles moved his hand higher, lifting the towel as he went. I touched his arm and pushed down on it. It didn’t budge. “We spelled it out before we did anything. What each of us did and did not expect was on the table for all to see. Somehow, I don’t think this is the case here. I could be mistaken. Tell me if I am. But has he told you he wants a relationship? Has he asked for the two of you to be exclusive?” His words began to jab at me, making me think, making me wonder about how wise my decision to sleep with Dale was. I couldn’t look at Charles as he continued on. “Has he told you that he loves you? That he’d give up anything for you?” Charles bent back slightly and glanced downward. “There’s no ring on your finger.” I opened my mouth to tell him to leave it alone--he let go of the towel and pressed his hand to my mouth. “Don’t defend him, Elizabeth. He doesn’t deserve it. You didn’t open that door glowing from a night of love and passion, you opened it bothered by something and it showed.” Damn, Charles was a hell of a lot more observant than I gave him credit for. “If you want to be treated this way so badly, then why do you push me away when I do it? I try to give you gifts and do special things for you and you refuse to accept them.” Tipping his head back, he laughed slightly. “Hell, I’ve been trying to get you to accept the watch I had engraved for you on our one year anniversary and you still won’t take it. And if you tell me that you have a perfectly fine watch that not only goes with everything but is comfortable, I swear I’ll scream.” Letting go of my mouth, he took a step back and put his head down. I’d never seen Charles be anything but put together so this wasn’t just odd, it was troubling. I reached for him and he backed away from me. “Charles?” “I’m fine. And I’m sorry that I said all those things to you. It’s just that this is the first time in a year that I realized I won’t always be a part of your life.” “We agreed....” The angry look he flashed left me backing up. “I know what we agreed on. I was there for it. Hell, I even made eighty percent of the rules. But things change, Elizabeth—people change.” Was he trying to say what I think he was trying to say? “If I asked you to stop seeing him and anyone other than me, would you? Would you commit to being in a monogamous relationship with me, Elizabeth?” Yep, that’s what I was afraid he was saying. “Are you feeling okay?” I asked, concerned he may be having some sort of attack that may require medical attention. Charles laughed softly and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. That just flew out. Sorry. I’d say I didn’t mean it, but I think we both know that I say exactly what I mean.” I wasn’t sure how we’d even gotten to this point in the conversation, but I knew I didn’t want to be here. I wanted things packaged up nice like they had been. I didn’t want a sexual partner asking for a commitment or a best friend turned lover, turned crazy. The room suddenly felt hotter than it should. I wiped the back of my neck and stared at Charles, waiting patiently for him to tell me it was April Fools’ Day. He didn’t. “Elizabeth, are you okay?” He touched my arm lightly. “Honey, forget I asked. I have no  

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idea what’s gotten into me. I think I have a sudden fear of sharing my toys. And before you knee me in the groin, I don’t consider you a toy--I just used that analogy.” I relaxed my knee. Good save. “I know, let me help you clean this all up and then I’ll take you out to eat and spend the day with you like he should have.” Charles turned and stopped dead in his tracks. I followed his gaze and froze too. On the wall, above the sofa bed, there were three eleven by seventeen, black and white, framed photos of Dale and me. In one, I was getting a piggy-back ride from Dale in the middle of Central Park. Paige had been with us and had insisted we stop for a picture. I tried to tackle Dale but didn’t get far. We both wore huge smiles as we laughed. The picture in the middle had the two of us dressed to the nines and dancing. It had been taken at Seth’s sister’s wedding. We’d been dancing and the guests had all been given disposable cameras. This was one of about twenty that had come back showing Dale and I holding each other. This one in particular showed us staring into the other’s eyes. It looked so intimate but when it was happening I hadn’t noticed it. The third, and last, picture was one I’d never seen before. Dale and I were asleep. He was pressed against my back, spooning me, with his arm around me and our hands locked. It took me a minute to recognize Megan’s leopard print carpet. I knew then that one of them had taken the picture during one our movie nights. “Looks as though the mystery man isn’t a mystery any more. And you are sadly mistaken, Elizabeth. You are most certainly his type,” Charles said, his voice low. All I could think of was Dale’s job. “Charles, please don’t hold this against him. He doesn’t feel the same way about me. It’s just like you said, he pulled away, changed, after we ... err ... everything you said. Don’t fire him. I’m turning in my resignation anyway. Please.” “I’m not going to fire Dale. You don’t have to quit.” Charles put his hand out to me, and I took it. “I am sorry he hurt you. And, I can’t promise not to take him into the boardroom and kick the shit out of him for being stupid enough to ruin what he had with you. But I can see you care for him.” He pulled me close and gave me a chaste kiss on the lips, lingering a bit longer than one normally would. Charles pulled back and gave me a slight smile. “You know where I am if you need me. My door will always be open to you, Elizabeth. Always.” I just stood there as he turned and walked away. He closed the door softly and it hit me that Dale was in the house. Slowly, I turned and opened the bedroom door. Poking my head inside, I saw no sign of him. That was strange considering there was no way out other than the door. I noticed that all the candles were blown out and most of the flower petals were missing. “Dale?” “Over here,” he called from the back of the room. I entered slowly and made my way towards the wardrobes. I turned to find Dale scooping up handfuls of petals and dumping them into the bathroom trash can. His face was blank. “Who was at the door?” He didn’t hear the outburst? Was he deaf or just trying to see if I’d lie to him? Was Dale that crafty? I didn’t think so, but knowing my luck he was. “Charles. We were supposed to meet for coffee this morning and I forgot. He was worried.” Why in the hell did I spit that out? I could have gone with no one. He didn’t look as he scooped more petals into the trash. “Charles, huh? You should have got me. I’d have come out and said hello.” That wasn’t even funny.  

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“Yeah, well, he’s gone now.” I walked towards him and began picking up petals too. “I can get these.” “No, I put them here, I’ll clean them up.” His words were clipped. He took a handful of petals and smashed them down hard into the trashcan. “Don’t.” Dale looked up at me, and I could see he was hurt. “Don’t what, Liz?” “Don’t smash them all. I want to save some of them.” I looked away, embarrassed to have admitted that to him. “Whatever. It’s totally your call. If you want to hang onto something to remind you of the night I did all this just to have sex with you, then that’s your choice.” Dale stood and stormed off, kicking over the trash and sending flower petals everywhere. When I heard the front door slam, I thought about going after him. I took a deep calming breath and focused. I was stronger than this. No man had dictated my decisions in almost ten years. I’d fallen for that once and would not fall for it again. I would not start to kowtow to make one happy now, not even if the man was Dale. I let the petals fall and went to find my suitcases.

 

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Chapter Fourteen “Look at this one!” Lauren shouted. I turned to find her holding up a light grey, floral chiffon dress. “Try not to shout too loud. My head is still marching to the beat of the club last night.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose, trying to wipe the headache away. “Mmmhmm,” Lauren murmured. “Yeah, I’m thinking the beating of the bed against the wall is what did it.” I ignored her and went back to browsing while inside my stomach was threatening to bring the coffee I’d spent twenty minutes trying to get down, back up. “How about this one?” Lauren held up a red dress. Its front split open, revealing two additional layers of matching red. The breast line around it was elastic to make its fit perfect. The breast cups themselves resembled a bikini top and the straps were thin and looked to be silk. “How much?” She glanced at the tag. “A little over two-hundred dollars, but I think I might be able to talk her down a bit.” “I’ll take it, but I think I’ll use that to go out one of the nights I’m home. I’d like something a bit more for evening for the reunion itself.” “How about this one?” Megan called out from the other side of the tiny boutique. The retro mini skirt she held up had every shade of blue known to man. I’d give myself a headache in it. I could only guess what I would do to other people. I gave her questioning look, and she burst out in laughter. “It was a joke.” “Whew.” “I’m trying this one on.” Megan held up a sixties styled green print, short dress. Lauren and I just smiled. The bell to the door chimed and a head of white-blonde hair came charging through. “I’m here! I’m here!” Paige yelled, waving at us just in case we missed her dramatic entrance. The baby blue blouse she had on had the tiniest variations of flowers printed in a light plum color. It looked perfect with her double buckle jean capris. “I’m digging the cutout mules there, honey.” Lauren moved in to get a closer look at them. “Cute. Watch them like a hawk or they’ll be mine.” Laughing, Paige turned and looked at me. Her face fell slightly. “How are you doing?” “I’m tired and cranky.” “That’s not what I mean. Dale stormed out of your place and into mine.” All eyes fell on me. Lauren was the closest and first to say something, “What happened?” I didn’t respond. Turns out, I didn’t have to. Paige stared at me. “Dale crashed on my couch and looked horrible. It gets worse. My mother called to inform me that the luncheon they planned for us tomorrow had to be cancelled due to one of my father’s business partners taking ill. Apparently, he’ll have to fly to Los Angeles. So, they want to meet this evening. Dale had only spoken with her about half an hour or so before and said he’d be bringing you--,” she looked directly at me, “--with him. So, they’re expecting us tonight.”  

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“Hmm, let me think. Umm, no. No. And no.” Her mouth dropped. “Why?” I wanted to yell ‘duh’ but didn’t. “One, we are all having dinner at Seth’s tonight. Two, your mother doesn’t like me. And don’t try to tell me she does. Have you ever seen the looks she gives me? And lastly, your brother stormed out on me today. I’m sure he doesn’t want me there any more than I want to be there.” Megan cleared her throat, and I knew I wouldn’t like what she was about to say. “I was supposed to stop by your place and tell the two of you that Jeffrey woke up with a temperature and stomach cramps. Dinner with Seth is off.” Of course it is. “Elizabeth, my mother doesn’t like anyone but Dale,” Paige said frankly. She was right. Mrs. Corbin only seemed to smile at Dale, no one else. She had some crazy hold over him. I never understood it, but I did have two brothers that were scared to death of my mother and they were in their thirties now. If she corrected them, they listened. Maybe it was a mother son thing. “I’m not sticking my nose in, but I’m fairly sure you could do anything and Dale would forgive you,” Lauren said, not turning to look at me. A murmur of agreeing voices backed her up. Sure, they love ganging up on me. Paige pulled a pack of gum out of her purse, took one, and tossed the pack to Lauren. “Catch!” She glanced at me and smiled. “We need to be there by six.” “No, we don’t.” “Elizabeth, please don’t do this to Dale. By inviting you to our monthly family lunch, he’s got my mother convinced he’s intending to marrying you. If you don’t come she’ll grill him until the wee hours of the morning and then she’ll start on me. Please.” It was their problem and their mother. And Dale had only asked if I was free tomorrow. He’d never come out and asked me to meet his parents for lunch. Probably because he knew I’d say no. His mother scared me. “Fine. I’ll go. But I’m not sitting next to Dale or your mother. I’ll eat with the kitchen help. I’d actually enjoy their company. And, if your mother starts giving me that creepy glare, I’m leaving.” Paige squealed and ran towards me. I ducked behind the rounder, hoping to avoid her clutches. She was short, she might not see me. It didn’t work. She hugged me tight and shook me a bit. “Thanks. And it’ll be fine. I promise.” Famous last words if I ever heard them. I went back to trying to find a dress. “Hey, what do you think of this one?” I lifted a floor length, black satin evening dress for them all to see. Paige’s eyes lit and Lauren damn near tackled me to have a look at it. She ripped it free of my hands and began to stroke it. I was creeped out, but they all seemed to react to clothes that way. I’d pet clothing, if it had the right man under it. “Oooo, let me see,” Megan said, running in the sixties dress. “You planning on getting us arrested or are you changing back into your own clothes?” I asked, grinning. “This is mine. I just paid for it. Now, let me see the dress.” I thought for a minute that she and Lauren might come to blows over it. It wouldn’t have been the first time. Once, Megan had found a pair of Anya Hinmarch flats that were crimson red.  

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Lauren loved them and they both wanted a pair. Of course, they only had one pair left. So, Paige and I had to drag them out of the store to keep them from clawing each other’s eyes out. The saleswoman had been very understanding. She said that it happens all the time. Megan held the dress up and launched into one of her spiels. “Look at the detail on the back seam. I’m loving the hidden zipper. This around the back bodice is divine. Oh, look it drapes in the back. This will stop just above your butt. And the criss-cross black straps will just pull those boys’ eyes directly to you and then down to that fabulous ass.” I tapped my foot lightly and waited for her to finish. The look on her face said she had. “Oh, right. So, you’re saying that one will work?” All three of them stared at me like a circus freak. “Guess so. Hand her over and I’ll go pay for it.” Lauren glanced around at all of us. “Where to next?” “Shoes,” Paige said smiling. Megan beamed. “Most definitely, shoes.” “Looks like shoes,” I said, smiling at them. “Then I’ve got to get packed.” **** I stood, staring at the large oak door and glanced down at Paige. “We could make a run for it.” She smiled up at me and adjusted her already perfect hair. “I wish they were still in France. Is that wrong?” “Not at all. I’ve met your mother.” I took a deep breath in and did a quick double check. I’d decided to go with a long, sheer black mesh dress with white embroidered flowers on the edges. The black, opaque slip under it, while not attached, had come with it. It was sleeveless with a vneck and mid-way down my calf. Paige had reassured me that it was acceptable dinner attire for her mother. I seriously doubted that anything was acceptable to her mother. Already I was wondering if the shoes were a bit too much. I’d gone with a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti black strappy sandals. With four-inch heels, I’d be almost Dale’s height. Since his mother was only as tall as Paige, I’d tower over her and I liked that. Paige went to knock and stopped. “Why do I insist on knocking on my parents’ door?” “Because ... never mind. I love you so I won’t say why.” She laughed and looked pale for a minute. “Are you sure I look okay?” The pink and black cotton stretch dress she’d chosen looked beautiful on her. It was strapless and covered all of her breasts. Black silk ribbon ran along the top trim and had a small bow in the center. Another black ribbon ran around the waist. The fitted bodice showed off her petite frame and gave her the look of a fifties movie star. While I decided to leave my hair down, Paige had opted to sweep her curls into tiny pins. White-blonde tendrils fell over her shoulders, framing her delicate features. “You look beautiful and if anyone tells you different I will attack them.” “Ready?” I exhaled. “As I’ll ever be.” Paige tapped lightly on the door. No one answered. Shrugging, she opened the door. Instantly, we were struck with the shrill sound of her mother’s voice from the other room. I’d only been to their apartment twice, but both times it had shocked me how huge it was and how it lacked any sort of real color. It was done entirely in cream, light tan, and white. Every now and then there was a piece that had a bit of burnt orange in it, but that was it. I couldn’t imagine growing up here.  

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“Really, Pierce, if you’re going to insist on bringing company to our family dinner, you really should be sure they are reliable.” Paige nudged me. “He hates to be called by his first name, and she knows it. She’s pissed.” The first time I’d learned that Dale’s first name was Pierce, I spent two days heckling him with James Bond jokes. The second I realized how much he truly hated being called by that name, I stopped. It had been his grandfather’s--on his mother’s side--name. She’d insisted he have it. His father had buckled but had called him by his middle name all his life and that’s what Dale preferred. “Mother, you are the one who changed times at the last minute. She had a previous engagement, as did I. Yet, here I stand.” Hearing how refined and polished Dale was around his mother made me cringe. That wasn’t how he was with me. With me he could just be himself. I spotted him with his back to us. He was leaning against the archway to the dining room with a drink in his hand. My guess, it was straight up. That’s what I would have chosen if I had to stand that close to his mother. He had on a pair of grey cotton slacks and a black cashmere and silk Henley shirt I’d seen him in a few times. If I knew Dale, the collar was unbuttoned. I noticed that he had on one of the black leather belts I’d gotten for him. That made me smile. “I am so sorry your father’s work demanded that the time of our gathering be changed. You should at least pick someone who is willing to accommodate your schedule changes. Really, Pierce. You spend too much time with that girl. She thinks she can lead you around with her little finger. When you called this morning and told me you were bringing her I knew it was what I feared. The two of you are dating, aren’t you? I told your father. I warned him.” “You told me what, dear?” The sound of Mr. Corbin’s voice soothed my nerves a bit. He didn’t seem to share his wife’s scary disposition. Mr. Corbin looked like an older version of Dale. They even sounded similar. “I told you he was dating that girl. The one who doesn’t care about him enough to show up here for a meal he invited her to.” “Relax, Margaret, I’m sure that she tried her best to get here.” “Doubtful. So, are you dating her, Pierce?” Dale shifted slightly. “It’s complicated, and I don’t wish to discuss it. So let it drop, mother.” “Ah, that is a yes. I’m going to need to take a sedative you know. I’ll have to call my doctor in the morning.” Paige touched my arm gently. I’m not sure if was to support me or to keep me from choking the life out of her mother. Somehow, I doubted that Paige cared if I choked her mom so that answered that. “Mother, please. Liz, wanted to be here. She was crushed when she found that the time had to be changed.” Liar. But a good liar. “Liz? Why in heavens does she insist on using that horrible, butchered version of a completely acceptable name? My cousin’s name is Elizabeth. Is there something wrong with it? I would ask her, but she didn’t feel the need to support you so I can’t.” That did it. I handed my lambskin clutch purse to Paige and went straight towards Dale. He turned to me a second before I reached him. I could see the surprise in his eyes, but he just grinned slightly. I put my hand out to him and he pulled me into him and gave me a chaste kiss. I wanted to tongue him just to piss the priss queen off, but I held back.  

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“You made it,” he said, keeping hold of my hand. “I couldn’t stand the idea of not being here so I begged Paige to bring me along. I hope that’s okay. I don’t want to put anyone out.” I looked at his mother as I said it. Her blue eyes met mine, and I could see the challenge in them. I’d been her doormat for eight years and I was sick of it. I’d bite my tongue only because I cared for Dale and it was his mother, but I didn’t have to like her. I just had to be civil. She fluttered her lashes and gave me the world’s fakest smile. “Ah, Elizabeth, we’re so happy you could make it. I was just telling Pierce how upset we were that you wouldn’t be joining us.” Paige chose that moment to step in. I’m positive she did it to keep from saying something snide to her mother. “Hi Mother. You look lovely this evening.” Yeah, if you call covered head to toe in navy with a permanent scowl on her face lovely then yeah, she was positively radiant. Mrs. Corbin’s face changed into the snarl I expected her to give me. “What in God’s name do you have on? You look like a cake topper. We could shut the lights off and still be able to see just from the horrible glow of that dress.” I smiled warmly at Paige. “I’m sorry again that I had you out too late to get home. When I insisted you wear my dress, I had no idea your mother wouldn’t like it.” I turned a cold glare on Mrs. Corbin and said nothing else. Dale rocked my hand and bumped the back of my leg several times. He knew the dress wasn’t mine. I think he may have also known that I was enjoying taking jabs at his mother. “Umm, it’s, fine, Elizabeth. I think it’s beautiful and thank you for lending it to me in a pinch.” Paige nudged me lightly. Her father walked towards us and kissed Paige’s cheek. “I think you look lovely, darling. Pink is your color. You should borrow clothes from Liz more often.” “Thanks, Daddy.” He took my hand in his and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. “And you, Liz, look lovely as well. After our last encounter I was afraid you were really a boy with very long hair.” He winked at me and I knew he was joking. “I believe my dry cleaner thinks the same thing.” He laughed. “I was a bit surprised to bump into you, literally, while headed out of a meeting I had in the area. When you looked up at me from under that oversized-cap I thought I was hallucinating. I’d just spoke with Dale an hour or so prior to that and I thought perhaps I was having random visions of his girlfriend. I was most pleased to find it really was you.” I went to correct him about Dale and me dating but he kept going. He patted his chest with his right hand and smoothed his blue silk tie. “I did enjoy our talk that day and the concoction you coaxed me into eating. If you have the recipe, please jot it down for Margaret to give to the kitchen staff.” Every muscle in my face twitched, dying to be let loose to laugh. I held them tight. “It’s pretty easy. Jumbo sized hotdogs on a bun with sauerkraut and mustard. And if you want it to taste just like the vendors, have them make the hot dogs a few days ahead of time.” Paige giggled, but I held firm. Mr. Corbin smiled wide. “I will do that. Those were delicious.” He frowned just a bit and gave me a semi-stern look. “I still owe you that lunch I promised. I hardly consider standing on a street corner, eating standing up while you juggled two bags worth of my son’s dry cleaning lunch.” He looked past me at Dale.  

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Dale cleared his throat. “She said she would be in the area. And in my defense, I was picking up a prescription for her at the pharmacist’s and picking up things for dinner that night.” His mother moaned. “They already behave as though they’re married. Isn’t that sweet? It’s so kind of you to take care of her while she was sick, Pierce.” “She wasn’t sick, mother. She was picking up our dry cleaning.” “Sorry,” she said, her tone snotty and short. “I just assumed she was sick since you were getting a prescription for her. Oh, Elizabeth, you don’t have anything long-term do you? Nothing terminal I hope.” I just bet you do. I beamed and rolled my eyes in a shy, girlish manner. “No, nothing terminal and I’m not sick. Though if Dale didn’t have a remarkable memory it could be something long-term.” Dale stood tall and pushed our joined hands against my backside. He rubbed softly, tenderly while his mother leaned in her chair and stared at me with wide eyes. “Oh heavens. That does sound as though it could be serious. Are you sure you’re well?” Stop wishing I’d drop dead. “Thanks for your concern, Mrs. Corbin, but Dale was picking up my birth control tablets.” She looked as though I’d struck her. God, that was a great look on her. She fanned herself lightly and licked her lips. “Yes. Of course. So, does Pierce pick those up for you often?” “Yes, Dale, seems to know exactly when I need a refill.” And he did. Until that moment, I hadn’t really ever thought about it. He did seem to know more about my body’s regularly scheduled breaks than I did. As much as I didn’t want to be having this conversation in front of his parents, I just couldn’t stop prodding her. She looked Dale up and down as if she were seeing him for the first time. “Pierce, I know it’s not my place, darling, but don’t you think those types of things should be handled by her.” “No, Mother, I don’t think so. Liz, has a lot on her mind, and she never stops to take care of herself, so I do it for her. And I know then that we won’t have anything pop up or in this case out until we’re ready.” You could have heard a pin drop. I actually wanted to drop. What the hell was he doing? Did he really need to paint the target on my forehead bigger? His mother already had great aim. I glanced at Mrs. Corbin and found her giving me that look she liked to give me so much. The one that says she’d rather be eaten alive by mountain lions than have me in the same room as her. I didn’t back down. “You think that statement he made was disconcerting, you should walk in the door to find him restocking my feminine toiletries for certain times of the month. That’ll leave some lasting damage.” Mr. Corbin’s lips shook, and I caught him laughing ever so softly. Dale’s mother stood and nodded. “I see. Umm, I had no idea the two of you were this close. Pierce has been adamant for years that the two of you were only friends. Paige even mentioned some of the women he’s dated throughout the years. I’m not judging, but I don’t remember the same name being mentioned more than once.” Dale released my hand and traced a light line up my spine. “Liz and I have always been close, mother. We both dated other people. I’ve been doing things like that for so long now that I can’t remember exactly how or when it started but it was a long time before we became even closer.” Mrs. Corbin’s lip curled. “So, you subject yourself to the humiliation of purchasing such things for her only so that she can use them with other men?”  

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My entire body tightened. I wanted to bounce her artificially blonde helmet of hair off the wall several times for good measure. “Not that it’s any of your business, Mother, but I was there anyways picking up condoms for myself so it seemed convenient for me to grab that for her as well. Besides, I just told you that we weren’t ready for anything more in our lives.” His mother’s loud, forced laugh punched me in the gut, and I leaned into Dale for support. “Surely you meant she wasn’t ready. It’s not your problem if she ends up pregnant, Pierce.” “I said what I meant, Mother, and since Liz is not and has not been pregnant before, this conversation is really pointless. So, please do move on. It’s tiring.” Dale sounded annoyed and worn down. The woman had a way of sucking the energy out of him. “Edmond, did our son just imply that he would raise another man’s child if she ... if...?” Mr. Corbin rolled his eyes and sighed. “I believe so, Margaret. Dale has pointed out that this is neither our business nor our concern. I have to agree with him on the matter.” “Oh, it most certainly is our concern if our only son finds nothing wrong with shackling himself to a woman who could at any moment get pregnant by another man. By being open with how supportive he’d be will only encourage her. What better way to snag a rich....” She stopped and looked at me, obviously remembering I was standing in the room. “Mother! Elizabeth would never do any such thing!” Paige shouted. She’d just flat out called me a money grubbing whore. If Dale thought I would stand for that he was wrong. Why the hell had he wanted me here? Did he hate me? I opened my mouth to say something and Mr. Corbin coughed, drawing my attention to him. He shook his head no slightly and gave me a reassuring look. “I can’t say how pleased I am that you joined us this evening. Sorry the topic went south suddenly. That does tend to happen around here.” “You can say that again,” Paige added sarcastically. Mr. Corbin smiled brightly at her. “I think this may be one of those nights, sweetheart, that you should ‘sneak’ into the kitchen and see what desserts they have whipped up. I’m sure it will be nothing like the ice cream that Liz insisted I taste. That is just one of the reasons it’s so good to see you. I keep hoping you’ll bring a bag of something good with you.” I smiled. “Thanks, Mr. Corbin. It’s good to see you again. And I’ll be sure to bring something special for you if I see you again.” “When you see me again, dear. And I’ve told you before, please call me Edmond.” “You keep telling me that, but I’ve got to say, you look like an Eddie to me. I just can’t agree with Edmond. It’s too stuffy and makes you sound old. Nope, you’re an Eddie. You just won’t admit it. I saw you enjoying three of those hot dogs. Edmonds don’t do that. Now, Eddies, they know how to live.” Dale squeezed the back of my neck extra hard and coughed. It sounded like a covered laugh. Paige did the same thing. Mrs. Corbin just gasped. Mr. Corbin looked me over and smiled from ear to ear. “I like you, Liz. You have something about you. It sets you apart. Always keep that. And always keep that son of mine in line.” I looked back at Dale and winked. “I’ll do my best, but he has a mind of his own. I just try my best to meet him in the middle.” “Well, that’s the best anyone can ask for.” He took my hand again and pulled me into a hug. It shocked me and must have shocked Dale too because he let go of my neck. I gave his father a good squeeze. “Just ignore Margaret. No one is ever good enough for her son. If we allow this to continue, I fear our boy Dale may blow. He already keeps giving her looks that are scaring me,”  

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he whispered. “Understood. Hopefully, I won’t get pregnant doing it. She’ll have an aneurism,” I whispered back, no longer caring what I said to the man. He chuckled and pulled back from me. “For you and you alone, my dear, I am most honored to be called Eddie.” “Edmond, do not....” He put his hand up and silenced her immediately. I wanted that power. If I was extra nice to Eddie I might be able to get him to teach me that trick. I was going to bake the man the biggest double chocolate cake he’d ever seen before. If he could get her to sit and roll over I’d toss brownies in too. “Liz, can I get you a drink. Trust me, you’ll need it. Perhaps a glass of wine?” “That sounds perfect, Eddie.” I smiled and he winked as he walked away. Mrs. Corbin practically ran after him. I crossed my fingers and hoped she’d trip. I don’t think she did. Paige grabbed my arm and almost ripped it off. “Ohmygod, Elizabeth, I thought you were going to clock my mother. I’m almost sorry you didn’t. I can’t believe she had the nerve to suggest that you’d get pregnant to keep Dale. Hell, we almost had to lock the two of you in the apartment just to get you listen to him. If she only knew.” I smiled but didn’t reply. To her it was amazing to see someone even attempting to stand up to her mother. To me it was humiliating. I’d done nothing other than know Dale and she seemed to hate me for that. Dale ran his hand up the back of my arm and I jerked it away from him. He tried again and I repeated my motion. I didn’t want him to touch me. Not after he’d let his mother say that about me and offered nothing in my defense. “Liz?” “What?” “You okay?” I stared at the large, muted tan and yellow tapestry on the wall. “I’m just fine. Though, I have lost my appetite. Paige, I’m going to go downstairs and get some fresh air. Can you give me a time frame on when I need to be back?” Dale tried to turn me to him, but I refused to move. Paige moved in front of me and put her hand out. “Come on. We’ll go see what we can find in the kitchen and I’ll take you onto the terrace.” She glared past me at Dale. “Where I won’t let our mother accuse you of anything else.” Dale gasped. “I didn’t let her....” Putting my hand up, I did my best not to yell at him. “Please consider the stunt you pulled about raising a hypothetical child that you had no part of, my payback for Charles showing up. I think we’re even now, Dale.” “Liz-B.” “Don’t. The nickname won’t help here.”

 

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Chapter Fifteen I pushed the mysterious white substance around my plate and glanced over at Paige. She leaned back against the balcony railing and dumped hers over the side. I did the same. “What the hell was that?” “Goat cheese ice cream with some sort fig thing. I don’t know. This is what I always do with the desserts here. We can raid my fridge when we get home if you want.” “Sounds good. You know this balcony is bigger than my apartment.” And it was. The scariest part was that the it was covered in designer, light tan, outdoor furniture that looked like it might be comfortable. These people were rolling in money. “Hey, my place is as big as yours.” “Why do you live by me when you could live in a place like Dale does?” Paige smiled up at me and wagged her shaped eyebrows. “I do live in a place like Dale does, considering that he lives with you.” “He did live with me. I still have his key.” “Guess he didn’t really earn that back tonight. Did he?” I shrugged. “I wish he would tell his mother to shut up. I understand why he doesn’t. But what I don’t understand is why he wanted me to be subjected to her? And why did he have to bring up something as ridiculous as he did?” Paige sighed. “You just don’t get it, Elizabeth. He brought you to prove to them he is serious about you, and he took it a step further by illustrating through the ridiculous example he gave that nothing will change his mind even if you came home pregnant by another man.” Leaning over her, I pulled the top of her dress open a bit and peeked down. She slapped her hand over it and laughed. “What are you doing?” “Looking for the secret rich people translator you’ve obviously got embedded in your skin somewhere because I sure didn’t get all of that out of his actions or lack thereof. Here I just thought he hated me.” “Hardly,” Paige said, laughing. I looked towards the four sets of French doors and tried to guess which one Dale was behind. “What do you think they’re doing to him?” She shrugged and put her plate on a white iron table. “Who knows? It could be pressuring him to take over Daddy’s company again or just pressuring him period. They don’t really need a reason. They put a lot on Dale’s shoulders. I don’t know how he deals with it. My mother expects nothing from me because she thinks I can’t do anything and it’s still mind wracking. I can’t even imagine having to carry her hopes and dreams.” “Do you think he’s okay? They’ve had him in there for over an hour. I should make him suffer but even I have a heart.” Paige sighed. “We should probably go rescue him. Aren’t you feeling a bit tired?” She poked me and I got the hint. I faked a yawn. “Oh, exhausted.” She laughed. “Quick study. Shall we get him so you can take him home and kiss everywhere  

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he hurts? Please know that it pained me to say that out loud.” “Paige, tell me honestly, do you think that Dale and I can seriously work? We’ve had more arguments and tense moments in the last two days than we’ve had in eight years. I hate to say it, but I’m beginning to think people are right—he should find someone more like him, more like what your mother likes and I should find someone more like me.” “Wow, I can’t believe you just said that. You’re going to let that bitch win? And yes, I just called my mother a bitch. Does Dale know how you’ve been feeling?” I moved my fork around my empty plate, playing with the remaining white goop in an attempt to avoid looking at her. “Umm, no. I didn’t tell him. It doesn’t really matter.” She punched me in the arm and it actually hurt. “Don’t you blow this with him! I consider you my best friend, but I will take his side on this, Elizabeth. If you dare hurt him I’ll be pissed.” I laughed and she hit me again. “What? I’m sorry. Threaten me again and I’ll do my best to keep a straight face.” I bumped her hip with mine and we both laughed. Rolling her eyes, she turned and grabbed her plate. “Come on. Let’s go save Dale.” “Let him suffer just a bit more.” “Shut up, Liz!” My jaw dropped as I followed her towards the doors. “Did you just call me Liz?” “Yes, and don’t cross me on this again or I’ll really get angry.” “You’re like an evil china doll. Tiny but deadly!” Paige snickered as she opened the doors. We walked down the oversized, empty hallway and headed for the kitchen. I spotted Dale with his back to me again. The second we heard her mother practically screaming, we stopped. “You have got to be kidding me! There is no way I want that … that … country bumpkin in my family! She’s nothing like us, Pierce! How can you stand here and tell us this and expect us to be okay with it? I would rather you told me you were joining a monastery. Our family name may stop but at least it wouldn’t have the blood of that ... that ... tramp you insisted on bringing to my home tonight.” Paige grabbed my hand and held it tight. “Ignore her, Liz. Ignore her.” I tried. I tried hard. But her words hurt. “Mother,” Dale said, in the deepest voice I’d ever heard him use. “Never call her that again. Liz is an amazing woman who—” “Who has you thinking with something other than your head. She’s after your money. Does she know exactly how much you have now and what you stand to gain? Does she, Pierce?” My hands shook. Who the hell did this woman think she was? “Mother....” “Don’t mother me. Did you see the way she smiled and wrapped your father around her finger too, Pierce? Think of how many farm boys she learned to do that on. For all you know, she has six kids living with her momma in the trailer park back home! Are you willing to step up and raise them all too?” “Margaret! That will be enough. Liz is an extremely pleasant young woman who has been nothing but kind to us and has been close to our son for eight years. Stop treating her as if she’s substandard.” Substandard. Hearing the word associated with my name made heat flare through me and my stomach turn. “Well, she is, Edmond. Or should I call you Eddie. Will it make you hug me too? She isn’t  

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worth the ground we walk on and you know it. Why can’t Pierce be more like you? Find a skirt that catches his fancy, sleep with it, and go home to his real wife? That is what you do, isn’t it? And it is all Liz, as you both love to call her, is good for. Maybe you’d like to have a go at her Eddie when Pierce finally wakes up and realizes it won’t work. You did seem to enjoy your outdoor eating excursion with her. Why stop there, Eddie?” “That is out of line, Margaret!” Mr. Corbin shouted. “I don’t think it is. Betsy Gardner was over the other day and she spotted the picture of Dale and that girl you insist on keeping around. She instantly recognized Liz as the girl Charles Baum, from the club, has been seeing for some time now. He’s almost as old as you are.” “Mother.” “Did you know about that, Pierce?” “I recently found out.” “Recently,” she laughed. “No wonder you make sure her birth control tablets are filled. She’s sleeping with other men while she sleeps with you. Maybe she’ll stop by his place after she leaves here tonight--after all, he only lives two blocks down from us. She’s a real classy girl. I can see why you like her so much.” “That’s enough, Mother.” “You can’t honestly tell me you’re fine with her and Baum.” “What do you want me to say? No. Of course I’m not happy that Liz had a relationship with Baum. In fact, it makes me sick to stomach every time I think about it. But that doesn’t change the way I feel about her.” “Pierce, really, haven’t you figured out that you can get the same type of girl by the hour and not have to put up with the additional baggage.” I lost my grip on my plate and watched in slow motion as it crashed to the floor. I bent down fast to clean it up. I piled the pieces of shattered china into my cupped shaky hand. Paige was next to me in an instant, trying desperately to help me to stand up. Glancing up, I found Dale staring down the hallway at me. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. Mr. Corbin appeared behind Dale. His face reddened instantly. “Dammit, Margaret! You had to conduct yourself this way while she was a guest in our home.” Paige touched my shoulder and I jerked away. “Leave it, Liz. Someone will come and clean it up.” I nodded, not taking my eyes off Dale, who now had his back to me again. I stood slowly and smoothed my dress down. It was hard to get one foot to move in front of the other but somehow, I managed. The only way out was to go right past them all. “Let’s go,” Paige said softly. As I neared Dale and his father, it got harder to breathe. Dale kept his back to me and Mr. Corbin tried to take my hand. I pulled it back, letting it wave in the air with no real purpose other than to avoid having it touched. “Elizabeth, please don’t take what she has to say to heart. She sees her son slipping out of her clutches and she can’t stand it. Margaret, apologize this instant to Liz.” “Let her go, Edmond. Pierce is better off without her. And if the truth is too much for her to stand, she has no place here. Let her crawl back to the dilapidated shack she came from.” Paige touched my back lightly. “Stop being such a bitch, Mother!” “Paige Michelle! How dare you speak to me that way?” Margaret shouted, finally coming into view. “One of us had to, since Dale seems to have lost his ability to speak.”  

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Margaret narrowed her eyes on me and wore a smug look. “It appears it is catching.” She had a point. That alone scared me. Why the hell was I biting my tongue? If she wanted to play, I’d play. “No. Margaret, I have not lost my ability to speak. I just prefer not to waste my breath on ignorant people who hide behind six hundred dollar dye jobs and at least three facelifts.” Her eyes widened as her mouth dropped. “How dare you speak to me that way?” I shrugged. “It’s fairly easy, but you already know that since it’s exactly the way you speak to me, or should I say about me.” “It’s killing you that Pierce hasn’t said a word in your defense, isn’t it?” “At this point, Margaret, I would rather Pierce not speak to me or for me. I would, however, very much like to speak to him.” I looked at Mr. Corbin and smiled. “Excuse me for what I’m about to say. You and Paige are the only two people I’m worried about offending.” He nodded. Turning, I glared at the back of Dale’s head. “You stood on your pearly white soapbox preaching about how horrible Charles was, how he was only using me for one thing and how he didn’t care about me. What was it you said, Pierce? Oh, right, he’d only hurt me in the end.” I laughed softly as Paige handed me my handbag. “It is funny how he never did one of those things. You, however, have done all of them and the weekend isn’t even over yet. I would make a comment on how rapidly you changed after everything that has recently taken place, but I believe it was Charles who already summed it up perfectly. So were you angry he came by or angry he told me the truth?” Margaret tossed her hands in the air. “We do not need to listen to this poor piece of country waste go on and on, do we?” I smiled at her. “Not that I should have to explain this to you, but I said I grew up on a farm. I never said my father or my mother were farmers. It was an assumption that each and every one of you made. Not that there even is anything wrong with farmers. They work hard for their money, unlike some.” I motioned to her. Dale moved slightly but didn’t face me. “My parents are originally from Texas, thus explaining their accents and my tendency to have one as well. My mother is a professor of law. My father retired five years back. He had been head surgeon at a large hospital about an hour from our home. My eldest brother, Nathan, followed in my father’s footsteps and my middle brother, Scott, followed in my mother’s. I, as usual, marched to my own beat. So, while we were in no way filthy rich, we were very, very comfortable. The farm, which I have told Dale about, is a six bedroom, eight bathroom house with an attached four car garage. I’m not sure of the square footage. You’d have to speak with my father about it. And I’m not sure if the guest quarters behind the pool house count or not.” “Liz?” Paige asked sounding surprised. “You may be asking yourselves why we had pigs, cows, chickens, and horses. That’s easy. Because I asked my daddy for them and he got them for me. I, like Paige is to Mr. Corbin, am his baby girl. He made a point to make sure I had whatever I wanted. My brothers wanted sports cars, they got them. I wanted animals. I got them. They just sort of grew on the rest of the family to the point Nathan actual owns several stables. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’ve had enough of being treated like an ignorant, barefoot backwoods girl.” I stopped just short of the door. “Oh, Margaret, I don’t think Dale ever mentioned what it is you do.”  

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“Pfft. She doesn’t do anything.” Paige laughed as she followed behind me. “That is not true, Paige. I plan all of your Father’s functions and ... well ... I....” I smiled. “I don’t mean socially, Margaret. I mean professionally.” She rubbed just under her neck and looked anxious. “I chose not to work.” “Oh, I understand. I have a great deal of respect for women who stay home and raise their children.” “We went to boarding schools,” Paige offered as if I didn’t already know. “Interesting, Margaret. So, you must have felt very lucky when you snagged yourself a rich husband. And before you make another snide comment, Margaret. Between the two of us, which would still survive financially if the men in our lives walked out?” I tossed my hand in the air and smiled. “Wait, I’ve got this one. Your dear, darling son’s income makes no difference in the way I live because it’s not factored in. I even refused to allow my father to pay for college because I could see the disappointment in his face when I didn’t choose to practice medicine as well. Each time the school system made the recommendation that I be advanced an additional level my father became more and more convinced I was just like him. I did not graduate early to have six babies and live in a trailer. I graduated because I was done and moving on to college. No man has paid my way, Mrs. Corbin. Not Charles. Not even your precious Pierce. Can you say the same?” I walked past Dale’s father and he patted my shoulder gently. I gave him a tiny nod as I walked out. It was amazingly hard to stay upright when all I wanted to do was collapse. Paige ran out with me. “Don’t think for a minute that you’re leaving me here with her. And if I have to look at that pathetic excuse for a brother another minute I really will have to gouge my eyes out.” “Liz, wait!” Dale shouted. Pressing the button for the elevator, I ignored him. “Please, I’m sorry. I should have said something.” “It’s good that you didn’t. I would have kept on believing there might be hope for us.” The elevator door opened and I arched a brow. “Good thing I still have my key.” “This wasn’t supposed to go this way, Liz. Please, I came to show them something.” Dale walked towards me slowly and it was Paige who snarled at him and accidentally let the doors close again. I heard the elevator going down a fraction of a second before I hit the button. Mr. Corbin stepped out and cleared his throat. “Liz, I would greatly appreciate it if you gave Dale just a moment to speak with you alone. Please.” Sure, he had to toss the please on there. Sighing, I did my best to look pleasant. “Mr. Corbin ... Eddie. Pierce has nothing to say I want to hear. He allowed your wife to say things about me that no member of my family would ever dream of saying to anyone let alone someone I claimed I cared about.” “I understand.” Paige grabbed my arm and I focused on her. “Since we’re all dressed up, you want to go out?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sure, why not? Where are you thinking?” “The Vein.” My eyes widened. That place was always crawling with hot men. “Should we call Megan and Lauren?” “Would they forgive us if we didn’t?” She looked past me a minute and smiled. “Daddy,  

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could you go back inside now. I’d like to talk to Elizabeth.” “Sure thing, honey.” He winked, knowing all too well that Paige was a pistol when need be. Paige waited until her father was inside to continue talking to me. She and I both ignored Dale. “Open your handbag.” “Huh?” “Just do it.” I pulled my lambskin bag open and aimed it at her. She frowned and dug around in her own pink bag. “Shit, I only have one condom with me and you didn’t bring any. Guess we have to stop at a drug store before we go.” I smiled so wide on the inside that I almost burst. Paige was a she-devil who was doing her best to make her brother jealous. I decided to play along. He earned it. “That’s a good idea. Or we could ask Megan to bring some. She always has tons.” “Liz, you can’t seriously be thinking about going out to hook up with another guy?” Dale stood there, staring at me, his mouth slightly open. Paige punched me in the arm and it hurt again. She was getting a little too used to doing that to me. “Ooo, didn’t my mother mention that some Charles guy you’ve been seeing lives close?” I nodded, unable to say anything for fear of laughing. “Do you think he’d want to come with us? Is he the Mystery Guy? Oh, tell me he is!” Dale spun me around and stared down at me, his green eyes were livid. “You are not going anywhere with him. Dammit, Liz, I’m not about to let you walk out of here this mad at me. You’ll do something just to spite me. I know you.” “If you’re lucky, Pierce, you may still be someone I call a friend when this is all said and done. Don’t push it.” He put his finger up, signaling for me to wait a minute. “Paige, if you have any idea what she means to me, you won’t let her move. Hold on.” He ran towards his parents’ front door, thrust it open, and stared at me. “Mother, I have been in love with Liz from the moment I laid eyes on her eight years ago. If you don’t get your pampered ass out here and apologize to her this instant I’ll strangle you myself and save Dad the time!” My eyes widened. Paige gasped. Margaret began shouting, “Pierce, stop making a scene! I’m not about to—” He pointed in the door. “No! You stop calling me Pierce and stop being a bitch to the woman I love. And gods willing, the future mother of my children and my wife. If you blew this for me, I will never forgive you. Ever!” “Did he just call our mother a bitch?” Paige asked, softly before clutching my hand. “Did he just admit he loves you to everyone here? Did he just say he wants to have children with you?” Stunned, I nodded. “How dare you speak to me that way?” Margaret asked, appearing in the doorway. She glared at me. “If you think I’m going to let him give you that ring he came rushing in here with today you’re mistaken.” Paige yelped. “Ring? Dale, you did it? You bought a ring for Liz?” He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly at me. “It was the errand I had to run today, Liz. I’ve been looking for one for you for the longest time. I found the perfect one around your birthday but, umm, we weren’t really in a place I could ask you and have you say yes.” “We’re still not,” I bit out. He nodded. “I know I fucked things up. I wouldn’t have subjected you to my mother if I had  

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known she’d turn on the woman I love most in the world. I thought that if she loved me, even a little bit, she’d find it in her heart to love you too. I know my dad wants us together. Hell, he yelled at me for not having you down the aisle four years ago when you surprised him with a homemade birthday cake.” Dale snickered. “He’s been pushing so hard for me to take over his company because he wants me to marry you and start a family. He wants to know that his grandchildren will want for nothing—he wants to know we’ll want for nothing, Liz.” I opened my mouth to offer something. Nothing came out. Paige poked me in the ribs. “Tell the boy you love him too.” Margaret stared at Dale and then looked at me. “Is what Betsy said true? Did Baum try to give you a diamond necklace that could make any woman jealous and you refused to take it?” “Wait.” Dale glared at her. “You knew Liz turned down his gifts yet you called her a rich man’s whore?” She made a move to touch him and he jerked back. “No. Look at her, Mother. I love her. I’ve spent eight years waiting for her wake up and see me the way I see her. She finally has. Eight years of thinking it would be the day she came home to tell me she was in love with someone else. Eight years of trying to look like I cared about seeing other women when all I could do was think about her. Eight years of being scared to push for something more because I sensed something there, something Elizabeth was hiding. No one is that commitment phobic without a reason.” Did he know about Dakota? I froze. “Pierce ... umm ... Dale, I don’t think I can make this right. I can’t erase what I said.” Margaret glanced at me, tears filled her eyes. “You win.” I sighed. “This isn’t a contest. You’re his mother. If I ever have children, they will be loved the same way my mom loves me, unconditionally. And my daddy knows that no man will ever take me from him. Though, he keeps trying to give me to Dale. Don’t ask.” “If you change your mind about marrying my son, will you sign a prenuptial agreement, assuring that you can’t leave him high and dry?” “Mother, no. I’m not asking Liz to sign anything. Stop....” I put my hand up as tears came to my eyes. “Margaret, I walk around, scared to comment on something I like or to tell him that my feet are cold because he goes out and spends ridiculous amounts of money if I do. All I wanted to do was sit close to him, eat breakfast and watch it rain-I didn’t want a table out of it. I wanted Dale. Just Dale. He pretends like he doesn’t care that it’s raining, but loves it when it storms. I know he does. He wakes up at night and sits near the window, watching it as best he can from that spot. I think about what he’d do if he had the chance to sit on my parents’ front porch and watch from there. Watch it over the fields. I don’t think--buy me a table. I’ll sign anything because all I want from him, is him.” Margaret teared up too. “Dale, would you hug the girl before I’m forced to do it. Paige doesn’t look safe to walk next to yet,” she said with a tiny laugh. “Go.” He picked her up and kissed her cheek. “I love you.” She laughed and wiped her cheeks. “Go get her.” “I intend to.” He rushed towards me and had me locked in his arms and his lips pressed to mine before I could blink. Paige giggled and gave us a little shove backwards into the open elevator. She didn’t join us. Dale and I kissed, our tongues mating, as we held each other close, savoring the feel. The elevator door opened and Dale lifted me off my feet enough to walk us forward without  

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breaking our kiss. The minute he pressed my back against a cool wall, I couldn’t help but laugh. Pulling back, I stared into his green eyes. “I can’t believe you called your mother a bitch.” Dale laughed. “I’m still in shock that you not only called my dad Eddie but got a hug out of it.” I shrugged. Dale walked in front of me and pulled me back towards the entrance of the building. He drew me close to him. “Woman, you are almost as tall as me in those shoes.” “I know.” “You look beautiful.” I slouched slightly and felt my cheeks flush. “Dale.” Kissing the tip of my nose, he laughed softly. “Well you do. Mmm, thanks for coming.” “I thought you wouldn’t want me here. I mean, you did leave on bad terms.” Dale nodded and leaned back against the cream wall. A rather gaudy white marble statue of a half of a column stood next to him. “I handled the Charles thing bad. Liz, it took everything I had not to break his neck. Do you know that I opened the door and saw him grabbing your ass? I wanted to kill him.” I was shocked. I had no idea Dale had come out at all. “What stopped you?” “I don’t know. You, I guess. I knew how upset you’d be with me if I started a fight with him. I went back in our room and just stood there, clutching the door handle as he said all of those things. When he asked you not see me again I honestly thought you’d agree.” My mouth dropped. “You thought I’d say yes?” Dale blinked slowly as he sighed. “I thought you would say yes to being with Charles before you would say that you believed I used you for what I wanted and was now done.” Yeah, he would catch that too. Wonderful. “Can you blame me for thinking that? Did you notice how you were behaving?” Dale thumped his head against the wall twice. “I really did have to do something today. We’ll talk about it later. And, yes, it did come up suddenly.” The ring. I turned my head slightly and narrowed my eyes. “What about not touching me and keeping a four foot distance after ... you know.” I didn’t want anyone in his parents building to overhear me saying after you fucked me on the floor. It seemed a little crude. Could just be me though. Dale chuckled and drew me into his chest. He whispered softly for only me to hear, “Liz-B, I’d already failed to control myself long enough to get you into bed. If I touched you again I’d have taken you were you stood. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m having issues controlling certain parts of me as we speak. That’s why I stayed back two feet not four. Get it right.” Paige coughed. “I’m here now so stop being gross. Liz, I don’t mean to be a party pooper here but you’ve got a plane to catch.” My eyes widened. “Shit. I do.” “A plane? We don’t leave until tomorrow morning.” I shook my head. “We aren’t going, Dale. I need some time to think.” “Liz? I thought we were okay, now.” I smiled. “We both need some time to think.”

 

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Chapter Sixteen I bent over to catch my breath for a minute. I pulled my skin tight, boy cut running shorts down a bit and adjusted my sports bra. Glancing down, I just stared at the ground for a minute. It was odd to see green grass. I was so used to sidewalks that I couldn’t help but reach out and touch it. I’d gotten in late last night and still couldn’t believe I was really home. “Liz, are you petting the grass?” People seemed to be asking me petting questions a lot lately. “No, I’m not, Cindy. I just don’t get to see a lot of it unless I’m in Central Park. It’s not everywhere like it is here in Ohio.” I stood slowly and gave her an evil fake stare. She put her hands in the air and laughed. “As scary as ever I see.” Adjusting my baseball cap, I winked at her and moved my legs around a bit. “Do you want to go the rest of the way with me or is this just like old times?” Cindy smoothed a piece of sweat soaked dark red hair back from her pale face and rolled her blue eyes before putting her cap back on. “I have no desire to kill myself, especially since we’re going out tonight to meet up with everyone. You’re going to be dead tired if you go anymore. We’ve been running for almost an hour as it is.” I coughed slightly and nodded. “I’ll be fine. Where the hell is Sara? Didn’t she say she’d meet us?” “She’s still chronically late. If you would have given us a heads up that you wanted to do this, I’d have made sure she was ready to go. You flew in, hugged everyone at home and tossed a pair of running shoes on. I’d say that spells issues that you don’t want to deal with. Like the Dale guy you were telling me about. But what do I know? I’ve only been your friend since we were four.” Reaching down, I grabbed a handful of grass and tossed it at her. She immediately went for the nearest maple tree and started jumping in the air to get leaves from a low branch. At five foot three, she wasn’t getting them anytime soon. I walked over and pulled the branch down closer to her. “Here.” “Show off!” “It’s not my fault you’re vertically challenged.” Cindy tore several deep green leaves from the tree and tried to fling them at me. They blew away in the slight breeze. “Damn. I may be short but at least I’m not relationship challenged.” “We can’t all be perfect.” I nodded towards Main Street and smiled. “Come on, I’ll jog you home.” “Aren’t you sweet?” We set out for the road. It was a doublewide street that had maple trees lining both sides of it. The entire town looked as though it was caught in a bizarre time warp. It was still safe to leave your doors unlocked at night and everyone knew everyone. Cindy pointed towards town square, a large square the size of a city block that had a gazebo, several circular white picnic tables and a large fountain. Since the town celebrated anything and everything, the place was used a lot. It also held a lot of good memories for me. A big red Ford-150 drove past blaring classic rock. The occupant rolled his window down  

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and began to whistle. “Who is the hot set of legs with you, Caros?” Cindy shook her head. “Zachary never quits. Though, I’m guessing he doesn’t recognize you. He hasn’t seen you since you were sixteen. He joined the service then.” I almost fell when I realized the sexy, onyx haired stud in the truck was her brother. “What happened to him?” Cindy laughed and grabbed my arm. “Don’t fall over. Zach just grew up, that’s all.” “A picture would have been nice.” Preferably a naked one. He was exactly Megan’s type of guy. She’d have loved me forever. “Spill it, Red. Legs like that aren’t from around here!” Zach called out. “If I tell him who I am, is he going to do it?” I cringed, thinking about Zach’s routine. “Has he ever not?” “Ugg.” Cindy laughed so hard that she had to stop running altogether. Zach put his truck in reverse and began to go with us. Zach, Cindy’s older brother was well known for his outrageous antics. Driving backwards down the middle of Main Street didn’t even register on his radar of wrong. “Hey baby,” he said with a wink. His hair was longer now than it had once been and his face had filled out. Apparently so had the rest of him. He was all muscle and all male. Cindy had told me that Zach was now the town’s Sheriff, but I still had trouble believing that. “Damn,” he said. Cindy started to jog again. “It’s sick that the man charged with keeping us safe is hitting on women while driving in reverse.” Glancing ahead, I noticed a black convertible coming towards us. Fairfield didn’t see many of those so it caught my eye. It kept coming and Zach kept driving in reverse. “Car,” Cindy shouted, sounding as if we were all ten and playing street hockey again. “Who’s got a black mustang around here?” Zach called out. “Apparently, that man,” I yelled back. “Ooo, sexy and sassy. If I say stacked, will that put me up for harassment charges?” I couldn’t help but laugh. The mustang swerved into the left lane and never missed a beat. It came to a screeching halt next to us and this time I did stumble and stop when I saw the driver. Dale turned his head towards us. I couldn’t see his eyes under his dark black Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses. The black cotton, long sleeve shirt he had on was unbuttoned to mid-chest as usual and cuffed to just below his elbow. I pushed my sunglasses up and waited for him to say something. “Excuse me, but would either of you happen to know where I can find the Rogers’ farm?” “Why?” Cindy asked. I bit my lip and waited for him to address me. “I’m trying to find my girlfriend, Elizabeth Rogers.” His girlfriend? I coughed so hard that Cindy had to pat me on the back a few times. “Is she okay?” Dale asked. “Hell boy, she’s more than okay. Get a look at those legs,” Zach called out. Dale looked to his right and nodded at Zach. “I’ll agree with that.” Cindy put her ear to my ear and whispered softly, “Care to tell me what’s going on? Is he your boyfriend or what?” “Hey, the Rogers’ place is back the other way. You can follow me there if you want. I need to drop some things off to Mrs. Rogers but you aren’t going to find Elizabeth there. She lives in  

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New York now,” Zach said. “Thanks.” Dale looked over at us and smiled. “You ladies have a nice day.” “Goddamn, Cindy, who is your friend. I need a name to go with the legs when I think about her later tonight.” Dale froze and turned back to us. “Are you Cindy Caros?” Cindy snickered and nodded. Dale pulled his sunglasses down his nose a bit and stared at me with wide green eyes. I smiled from under the rim of my hat. “Told you I ran.” “You can run that fine ass past me anytime you want,” Zach said, hanging out his truck window. “And if you should happen to want me to run anything past it, I can oblige.” Dale jaw tightened. He took a deep breath in and my guess was he’d blow in about a minute. Deciding to head off an ugly situation, I took matters into my own hands. “Hey, Zach.” I stood straight up, handed my sunglasses to Cindy and smiled at him. “She knows my name?” he asked, sounding shocked. I put my middle finger up and smiled. “She also knows that you’re scared of snakes, used to wet your bed until you were six and that you had a crush on Jenny Tuck when you were twelve. I also know who the first girl you ever kissed is.” Zach’s brows drew in. “Who ... ? How do you know who my...?” His eyes widened. “’Cause I was the first girl you kissed,” I said smiling even wider. Cindy elbowed me. “He’s gonna do it.” “He’s going to do what?” Dale asked, his voice deep and his face hard. “I’ll be damned!” Zach tossed his truck door open and hopped out. He had really filled out in all the right places. “When in the hell did he become buff?” I asked, leaning towards Cindy. Zach smiled wide and Cindy pushed me. “Probably the same time you got breasts. I’d run if I was you.” I looked down at Dale. “I’ll be right back.” Turning, I took off running in the other direction. “You know the rules!” Zach shouted. Glancing back, I saw him running after me. I faced forward and hopped over Mrs. Springer’s flowerbed as I ran for the Church. Zachary headed me off and shook his head. “I can’t believe I hit on you.” I grinned. “What did you say about my ass?” He lunged for me and I ran back towards Dale and Cindy. Dale was now out of the convertible, looking like he wanted to kick someone’s ass. I ran past him. “It’s okay! I promise.” “They do this all the time,” Cindy said. I looked back and found Zach on my heels. I stopped and crouched low. “It’s not happening, Zach. My shoes are expensive and this is a designer top.” “It’s a bra that’s barely holding those suckers in. And as for the shoes, I suggest you take them off.” He winked at me. “You still got it or will I hurt you?” “She’s still got it!” Cindy called out. I was just thrilled that she had confidence in me. “It’s been a long time, Zach.” He smiled wide, looking like a rugged angel. “I’ll go easy on you. Aiming for head first.” I nodded and took a deep breath in. “Ready.” Zach lunged at me and threw his arm out. I ducked to the side fast. If he’d have wanted to hit me, he would have. He did it again and I ducked out of his reach.  

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“What in the hell...?” I saw Dale running at us out of the corner of my eye and I saw Cindy trying to stop him. I grinned at Zach and spun in a circle, tossing my leg in the air as I went. He ducked back fast as my foot whizzed past his chin. He stared at me with wide eyes. “Sorry, I think I’m taller now.” Zach stared down at my legs and got a weird look on his face. “I’d say so.” Dale put himself in front of me and faced Zach. “What in hell do you think you’re doing?” Tapping his shoulder gently, I waited for him to tip back towards me before I kissed his cheek lightly. “It’s okay. Zach won’t hurt me.” “He just took two swings at your head.” “I know.” I looked at Zach and shook my head. “Are you that old that you can only get two swings out?” He made a move for me and I ducked behind Dale and peeked out the other side. I smiled wide and batted my eyes innocently. “Was it something I said?” “Liz?” Dale put his arm over me protectively. Zach nodded and flashed him a smile before staring down at me. “I seem to remember this scrawny lil’ thing with dark brown hair that hung to her nothing of a butt begging me to teach her to defend herself. I then spent six years teaching her every day only to find her grown and hiding under a man’s arm now.” I wiggled closer to Dale and wagged my eyebrows. “In my own defense, you were scrawny too and now you’re as big as he is.” I nudged Dale. “And I’d never try it with him. He’d break my neck. Don’t let the thousand-dollar outfit fool you. I’ve seen him pissed.” “’Bout done makin’ up excuses?” Zach asked, tipping his head slightly. “I think so. But I’d like to take this moment to point out,” I stood and put my chin on Dale’s shoulder, “that before you knew it was me, you thought I was hot. Would you ever really do what you’re planning on doing to a hot chick?” Zack beamed and tossed his cap on the ground. He pulled his dark green polo over his head, exposing his chiseled dark brown chest as he went. Sliding his belt off, he worked on his boots while he stared at me. “What the fuck is going on?” Dale asked. Quickly, I slipped my shoes off and gave them to Dale. “Hold these for me.” Pulling my hat off, I handed it to him as well. “This too.” Dale seized hold of me and pulled me around to face him. “Care to tell me why you and this man are stripping in the middle of the town, in broad daylight?” Zach chuckled. “Want us to wait until it’s dark? I should warn you that we only did that once, okay maybe twice.” The look on Dale’s face was anything but friendly. Before I could comment, I was yanked off my feet and tossed in the air. I grabbed for Zach’s back to hold onto something. “In all the years I’ve been doing this to you, I’ve never dropped you once.” Zach smacked my butt hard and laughed. “Well, except that one time but that was because ... err ... you remember.” Dale folded his arms over his chest and glared at me. I hit Zachary in the back and pinched him hard. “Stop making everything sound sexual! You’re pissing Dale off.” I glanced at Dale and smiled. “Honey, he’s just saying that to make you mad. He’s like that. It’s your own fault. You shouldn’t have said I was your ... ahhhh!” I screamed out as Zach hopped into the ice cold base of the fountain with me. Instantly, I was submersed under two feet of freezing water.  

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Pushing off the cement bottom, I got to my knees. Zach stood, dripping water everywhere and offered me his hand. I took it and yanked as hard as I could. He tumbled under the water next to me. I climbed out of the huge grey fountain and hopped up and down. “Ha! It took me almost thirty years but I dunked your ass!” Zach stood tall and shook his head, laughing. “Somebody’s gotten stronger. What the hell have you been doing? You aren’t still beating on that heavy bag I got you, are you?” I grinned. “Yep. My friend Seth hung it in the basement of our building and even hooked me up with all kinds of other neat, related gadgets.” “How the hell do you hit a punching bag with those fingernails?” He arched a brow and stared down at my hands. “Very, very carefully.” Dale cleared his throat and I flashed Zach a look warning him not to be cute or funny. He smiled and put his hand out to Dale. “Zach Caros, long time friend to Liz. Sorry about giving you a scare. If it was the other way around, I’d have been pissed too. But Liz is right. I’d never hurt her.” I turned and looked at Dale, afraid of what I’d see. He put his pleasant face on and walked up to us. I noticed that he stood extremely close to me as he reached his hand out to Zach. “Nice to meet you, Zach. I’m Dale Corbin, long time ... uhh....” Hearing him struggle over what to call himself, I decided to cut him some slack and help out. “Dale and I have been living together for eight years. He doesn’t exactly have a label. Beyond friend but other than that I’m lost.” Zach let go of Dale’s hand and laughed. “You can wipe the jealous look off your face, Dale.” My jaw dropped. I moved towards Zach to shut him up. “Calm down, Liz. I was just going to tell him that if he’s managed to live under the same roof as you for eight years and still have you get that dreamy look on your face when you introduce him to someone, then he’s safe. You aren’t going anywhere. It’s pretty damn obvious you love him.” That was rather unexpected. Apparently, Dale agreed with me because he laughed and slid his hand down my wet back. Running it over my butt, he stopped and inched his finger under the edge of my shorts. He adjusted them, moving them to cover my cheek completely. Guess they must have ridden up during the water thing. “I’ve got to admit, Zach, when I saw the way you two ran around here and seemed to know exactly what the other was going to do, I thought there might be something between the two of you.” He glanced back at me with questioning eyes. I tried not to laugh. But the very idea of sleeping with Zach didn’t make my stomach curl. It made it flip inside out. “Dale, remember how we discussed you not feeling like a brother regardless how close we are?” He nodded. “Yeah, well, Zach feels like a brother and he always has.” “But you said he was your first kiss?” “No, I said I was his first kiss. Cindy was my first kiss. We were like six and pecked each other on the lips fast and thought we’d just done the same things adults do.” Cindy’s hysterical laughter reminded me she was still there. I motioned for her to join us. She looked Dale over rather obviously and put her thumbs up. Rolling my eyes, I just laughed. Zach took his shirt from Cindy and put it back on. “I was too young to appreciate two  

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women making out in front of me. If I only knew. And as for the rest of that. I was just trying to get Liz riled up.” He tucked his shirt in and kept his eyes on Dale. “See, when you pulled up and she didn’t cuss you up one side and down the other I figured she liked you. I couldn’t stop myself. But, you’ve got nothing to worry about. In fact, I’m most likely going to be unable to perform for some time because I’ll be mentally replaying everything I said to her while she was running with Cindy.” “Wait until I tell Nathan you said I was stacked!” “Fine, but you should know that I’ll arrest his ass if he beats the shit out me like he did that college kid who blew into town trying to get you, at age fourteen, to go out with him. I’m still not sure why Nathan bothered to kick his ass. You already had the guy lying flat on the ground holding his nose and groin when we found you.” Dale looked down at me, smiling slightly and looking at me like he didn’t know me. “Why was he like that?” I smiled sheepishly. “Cause he tried to put one hand up my skirt and the other up my blouse. Zach, Nathan and Scott had drilled into my head what boys and girls do.” I cast Zack a wry grin. “I did exactly what they told me to do when a boy touched me where he was trying to touch me. Turns out, you really aren’t supposed to grab that spot every man loves and twist until you can’t twist anymore. They tend not to like that.” Dale and Zach made moves to cover their groins. “He screamed so loud that he sounded like a woman. It scared me so I punched him. He shut up then. I never got a chance to thank you for completely re-writing the birds and the bees did I?” Zach shrugged. “It was Nathan’s idea. He said we couldn’t watch you and Cindy all the time. It worked. No need to discuss safe sex when the guy you’re with doesn’t have working equipment.” His gaze flickered downward on Dale. Dale flinched. “I ... uhh ... thankfully she outgrew that.” He put his face close to mine and locked eyes with me. “You did outgrow it, right?” I let my mouth fall open a bit and cocked my jaw to the right. “That all depends. Are we done fighting all the time? It’s all we do anymore.” Dale’s gaze darted towards Zach and then towards Cindy as if to remind me that other people were around. I folded my arms and pushed a hip out. I knew I looked like a bitch. I was aiming for that look. “I want witnesses, Dale. Are you done throwing a fit every time something doesn’t go exactly the way you want it to?” “Honey,” he said between tight lips. “Now’s not really the time.” “When is a good time, Dale? We’ve established that nightclubs don’t work. My apartment doesn’t work. I’m sorry that Charles showed up. In twenty-four hours you have flipped my entire life upside down. One minute you’re my best friend. The next we’re lovers....” Dale smiled, his face red and nodded at Zach. I grabbed his chin and made him look at me. “Don’t you dare be embarrassed when I’m talking to you. I said lovers not ‘fucking my brains out on the bedroom floor because we couldn’t make it to the bed.’” I stopped a minute and looked at Cindy. “We get the picture. Zach’s turning white so I’m thinking he really got the picture. Hopefully, he’ll face the other way before he throws up.” Putting my focus back on Dale, I found him standing there with his mouth open. I pushed his jaw shut. “I can’t do this rollercoaster thing with you. Friends for eight years, more than that  

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for one night and then slamming doors and taking keys back from each other. So, until you’re ready to make a choice, I’m not sure if I outgrew the knee jerk reaction to keep twisting.” Zach coughed. “Now, that right there is why I never even thought of laying a hand on her. She’s scary.” I glared at him and he backed away with his hands up. When I looked back at Dale he laughed softly. “He’s right, you are scary. You did chase two interns away.” Huffing, I went to walk away. Dale grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him. “Hey, before you went off on your tangent, did you stop and think that I’m standing here, before you, in Ohio. Clearly, I ran to you, Liz. Not from you.” Great, he would point out something obvious and huge. He moved his lips down towards mine and someone pulled me backwards. “Hey.” Zach ignored me. “Now, I’m trying to let the floor comment go but I’m not going to watch you kiss someone.” “Then go,” I said, standing on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Hurry up. I might use my tongue.” Zach batted his arm as he turned and ran towards his truck. “We’re causing a traffic jam!” Dale and I turned to see a line of cars on both sides of the road. Taking Dale’s hand in mine, I pulled him towards the car, laughing as I went.

 

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Chapter Seventeen “Stop being a baby and come on,” I said, pulling on Dale’s arm. He didn’t budge. “I’m nervous. Really nervous.” It was cute that Dale put so much into his first meeting with my parents. It meant that he cared what they thought of him. “How about I go to a hotel for the night and then meet your father at his party tomorrow while there are a lot of other people around to keep him from strangling me.” “Please, Dale. I want him to meet you. I want them all to meet you.” “Why?” he asked, finally moving a few steps. I took a moment to look at him with the ivycovered barn as his backdrop. It didn’t matter where you set Dale, he was still gorgeous to the point you thought you should look away but knew you couldn’t. “I want you to meet them because you’re ... you’re you and I ... uhh ... I want you to meet them, Dale.” “But you can’t even figure out what I am and what I mean to you how are you going to explain it to your parents?” This was insane. “Dale, it doesn’t matter. They know we pretty much live together and....” “And we keep telling them we’re just friends.” He was getting agitated and that was never good. “And it matters to me, Liz. I care what I am to you.” “Oh, sugar, if you haven’t figured out what you are to her then you never will,” my mother said, appearing from the other side of the tall bushes that ran to the house. She stood there smiling at Dale with her long brown hair down. She was in a pair of white slacks and a white sleeveless shirt. The brown basket she held had various greens, ivy and such laying in it. Dale nudged me and whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “That’s your mother?” Confused, I nodded. “You’ve seen her picture.” “Yes, but I thought it must be an old photo because I guessed her age and she looked at least twenty years younger than that in the picture. Good God, the woman looks half her age! She’s beautiful.” I could tell he was being honest. My mother had shocked him. I glanced at her and smiled. Looking Dale up and down, she smiled and came towards us. “Well, after a comment like that I’m fine with him being part of the family.” She took hold of his upper arm and turned him back and forth slightly. I sighed. “Momma, what are you doing?” She kept turning Dale who didn’t say a word as he let her twist him and pull on him. “Sweetie, I’m trying to picture my grandbabies that’s all.” Groaning, I dropped my head into my hands. This wasn’t happening to me. It really wasn’t. I would wake up any minute and find out it was all a freakish dream. Someone wrapped their arm around me and then yanked it off quick. “Liz, you’re soaked and you smell funny. Ha, so I see you ran into Zachary.” “Thanks, Scott. And yes I did happen to run into him,” I said, secretly wishing I had a garden hose to soak my brother with. Scott was the middle child and it showed. Always the attention getter.  

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He laughed when he saw our mother turning Dale more. “Momma,” he said. “Stop sizing the man up for his reproductive qualities. I’m positive that had a part in Lisa walking out on me.” My mother let go of Dale and stared at Scott. “Lisa left you because she’s a selfish little girl who never grew up enough to marry let alone be a mother. And you, should be happy she did leave.” Scott chuckled. “Yes, Momma. I’m thrilled my wife walked out on me and left me with a child to raise on my own. Speaking of which,” he looked behind him, “Beth-Ann! Aunt Liz is here! And she brought someone special with her!” “She brought him?” A tiny scream was followed closely by hysterical laughter. I looked at Dale for help, he shrugged and smiled. Trust a guy from Park Ave. to be clueless when it comes to children. I spotted the dark head of spring loaded dark curls and smiled as Beth ran full force at me. Her little yellow sundress went straight up in the air, showing off her yellow ruffled panties. Laughing, I shook my head. I used to be just like her. “Liz, Liz, Liz!” she screamed as she wrapped her tiny frame around my leg and squeezed it tight. “Eww, you’re wet and you smell funny.” “You don’t say?” She looked up at me with wide, confused brown eyes. “But I did say it.” Dale laughed and Beth zeroed in on him. Her eyes narrowed as she walked over to him. Crossing her arms, she motioned for him to bend down. Dale looked at me and I nodded. He was so tall that he had to practically sit on the ground to be eye level with her. Beth stuck her face right against his and began to look him over thoroughly. When she began to pull on his lips and I couldn’t hide my laugh. The urge to touch his lips apparently ran in the family. Beth gave me a stern look and I stopped laughing. She looked back at Dale and put her hand on her hip. At five she was quite the diva. “Smile.” “What?” “Smile.” She stamped her foot for effect. “I said it slow. Any man should be able to understand.” Scott started to correct her but Dale put his hand up and stopped him. Dale smiled wide and laughed softly. “You are just like your aunt.” Beth squealed and tossed her arms around Dale’s neck causing him to lose his balance a bit. He touched the ground to stay up with one hand and patted Beth on the back with the other. “I didn’t know if it was you or if Aunt Liz tried to sneak someone else in. I promised you that I wouldn’t let her do that and I didn’t. Was that good, Uncle Dale?” Uncle Dale? I couldn’t have been more surprised if I tried. “You put my niece on spy duty?” Beth nodded proudly as Dale looked at the ground. “Yep and I’ve done really good. The last four times,” she held up for fingers just in case I needed a visual, “you’ve been home he had me do it.” “You’ve had her spying since she turned four? Isn’t that against child labor laws?” Dale grinned and pulled his wallet out. “I think that you did such a good job that you’ve earned a reward.” He pulled out a hundred dollar bill and went to hand it to her. Scott and I both moved forward. “Dale, she’s five!” “Right.” He nodded and pulled four more out to go with the first one. I shoved them back in his wallet and grabbed a one dollar bill instead. I handed it to Beth-Ann who smiled just as wide  

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as she would have if it would have been a hundred dollar bill. Scott looked at me and I knew what he was thinking. Was this guy for real? “Thanks, Uncle Dale!” She beamed as she hugged him tight. My mother hid her laugh and put her hand out. “Come on Beth, Nana needs help with the green beans.” Beth ran after her and my brother put his hand out to Dale. “Nice to finally meet you.” “You too.” Scott looked back at me and laughed. Jerk. “Did I do something wrong?” Dale asked so innocently that I wanted to cup his cheeks and kiss him. So I did. When I pulled back I snickered. “Honey, you don’t give four-year-olds that much money. You give them a dollar and it makes them happy.” “My father gave me hundreds,” he said defensively. “And that’s why we’re having this conversation now.” I took his hand in mine as he stood. I pulled him through the large white arbor and onto the tiny inlayed stone path that lead to the kitchen and back of the house. “Liz, this place is huge.” I didn’t say anything. I knew what the hundred and ten year old home looked like. It was three levels, not including the basement. The front of the house had first and second floor porches that spanned the entire length of the front of the house. Three large willow trees provided shade in the front yard and scattered maple trees provided it everywhere else. The fields that ran on two sides of the house were ours but my father didn’t actually farm, he simply owned the land and rented it out to others. I veered off the stone path right before the first set of large white doors and pulled Dale with me. I stopped when we’d made it all the way around to the back. I opened a big white wood door and held it open for Dale. He entered and I followed. “Wow.” I laughed. “I never thought I’d hear you say that about the house I grew up in.” “The bathroom here is as big as your room at home.” He walked around the large white room. I watched as he stopped and stared at the huge square glass enclosure. “That’s your guy’s shower. It’s huge.” I pointed and smiled. “Look on the other side of that half wall.” He did and then stepped back. “That is the biggest bath tub I’ve ever seen. I guess with a family of five, you all need to be in here at once so it works.” The look on his face told me he was only kidding. “This was my bathroom and only my bathroom.” Shaking my head, I walked back to the door and pulled it shut. I locked it and walked to the other end of the room. I opened the walnut door there and held it open for Dale. “This is or was my bedroom when I lived here and you are standing in my bathroom. No one shared this with me.” “Your father let you have a room with an exterior door?” “Uhh, no. The door was bolted shut until after I went to college.” Dale laughed and entered my childhood bedroom. “It’s baby blue and white.” “I know. Not every little girl is like Paige, hon. Some of us didn’t want everything doused in pink.” Dale looked back at me and squinted ever so slightly. “That’s the third time you’ve done  

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that.” I did a quick mental recap and came up blank. “What did I do?” I asked as I put the plug in the drain of the tub and began to fill it with extra warm water. I put a few pinches of lilac scented salt in and set the tiny bottle next to the other four. “Liz, you have a doll house that’s bigger than Paige’s was,” Dale called out from the other room. Peeling my wet shirt and shorts off, I smiled and climbed into the tub. It felt so good to finally be able to take a bath comfortably. The tub in my apartment was a bit shorter than a standard one so short of shaving my legs, I wasn’t getting much done there. I sank under the water and stayed there for a moment, basking in the glory of being home. As I came up, I found Dale standing next to me staring in with a needy look on his face. I turned the faucet off. “Take your clothes off. There’s plenty of room.” Dale suddenly looked as though I suggest he sacrifice small animals to the devil. “Are you crazy? I am not taking a bath with you in your parents’ home. In fact, I’m going to go wait in your room so they don’t think I’m some sort of....” “Man I’m having sex with?” “Yes.” “Dale.” He did his best not to look down at me again. “Yes?” “Go lock my bedroom door and then come and get in.” He didn’t budge so I took matters into my own hands. I poured shampoo into my hand and washed my hair slowly. Dunking under, I rinsed it and returned to the surface to the repeat the step with conditioner. I stood then, letting the water drip off me. Reaching up, I opened a white wood cabinet attached to the wall and pulled out a washcloth. I put my back to Dale and went to work soaping up the washcloth. Slowly, I ran it over my neck, breasts, stomach and then around to my lower back. Dale’s warm hand closed over mine and he took the washcloth from me. I thought he was just leaning over the tub until I felt his entire body press against the back of mine. Gasping, I turned a bit, only to have him hold my arms to keep me facing forward. He pressed his lips to my shoulder and chuckled. “You are a sadist. You know that.” His cock head nudged at the cleft of my ass. I smiled and leaned forward, needing to feel him deep within me. I gasped as he rubbed it between my cheeks, still kissing my neck. He pushed me forward more and water sloshed in the tub. Bubbles from shampooing my hair moved to the edges of the tub. I put my hands on the edge and braced myself as Dale found my heated core and eased into my pussy. Biting my lip, I moaned as he filled me completely. His cock hit my g-spot and my lower half began to tingle. I held as tight as I could to the edge of the tub as Dale continued to pump into me. He was slow at first, then increased his speed. I countered his movements and barely held back a scream as he took our love making to new levels, pounding into me. “Argh,” he muttered. “God, Liz. You feel....” I reached down and rubbed my clit, causing an orgasm to strike without warning. My body tightened around him, holding tight to his cock. Dale grunted and slammed into me, releasing his seed. He planted tiny kisses on my shoulder. “Mmm, thank you.” Glancing over my shoulder, I let a smile slide over my face. “No. Thank you.” He went to pull out and I felt how hard he still was. “Dale.”  

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“Yes?” “Stay. I like feeling you in me.” He pulled me back to sit on his lap. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub. “And I like being in you, Liz. I love you.” A light rapping at the door made us both gasp. “Y-yes?” I asked, my voice shaky. “Momma said dinner will be done soon,” Scott said, laughing slightly. “From all that gruntin’ and carryin’ on, I imagine you both worked up quite the appetite.” My cheeks flared and Dale groaned, putting his head against my shoulder. “Your parents are going to string me up.” “Yeah, and force you to marry me.” I snorted. He hugged me tighter. “Mmm, sounds like a plan to me.”

 

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Chapter Eighteen I stood in the doorway, watching Nathan, Scott, Zach, my father and Dale throwing a football back and forth. My mother came up and slid her arm around my waist. “Tell me what you’re thinking.” I smiled. “I’m thinking about how much I love him, Momma. And that scares me.” She kissed my temple. “I thought that might be what was on your mind.” “I won’t survive if he does it to me too.” “Elizabeth, he flew in first thing this morning, rented a car and found you because he couldn’t stand the idea of leaving things between you unsettled. And,” she hugged me close, “I saw him talking to your daddy in private. Your father looked pretty happy.” I swallowed hard. “I know he has a ring. I basically warned him against asking me any time soon.” “Why?” She clutched me tighter as a big navy pick-up truck pulled in. “Oh, dear. Umm, sweetie, why don’t you take Dale out to the pool house?” “Momma?” “We didn’t know Dale was coming, sweetie.” “Momma?” The second that Zach and my brothers came to a grinding halt, I knew who was in the truck. Dakota. He got of his truck and my breath hitched. He was stunning, just as I remembered him being. He was also a good deal more tattooed. I spotted some on his inner, lower arms and what looked to be tribal bands around his biceps. He had a pair of black sunglasses on so I couldn’t see his eyes but I already knew how blue they were. His light brown hair was cut in a messy, short style and it looked like he had gel in it. He glanced out towards Zach and laughed. “Don’t tell me your momma made you bring pies out for Doc Rogers birthday too.” Zach stilled. “Uh, nope, she’s forcing me to bring out potato salad. Doc’s got a soft spot for it.” Dakota crossed his muscular arms over his chest, making his black tee-shirt ride up a bit, showing off his abs. “Okay, I give. I get on an airplane. That’s right, folks, I hate to fly yet I did it, and the hello I get from my best friends is this?” My father cleared his throat and smiled. “Dakota, it’s good to see you. Your daddy told me you’d be in, but I didn’t believe him. I thought for sure you’d see it as another chance for him to talk you into taking over the company from him. He doesn’t seem to understand that you’ve done a damn fine job of making a living for yourself all on your own.” Dale stiffened, his gaze hardened. Nathan, my oldest brother rushed forward and put his hand out to Dakota, who pulled him into a manly hug. “How the hell have you been, Cowboy?” “Well, young Doc Rogers, that gold buckle isn’t as elusive as we once thought it was.” “He did it? He won?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. My mother squeezed me tight. “He’s a star among ’em, Liz. Like you always told him he  

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would be.” “Oh, umm,” Nathan forced a smile to his face, “this is Dale Corbin. And Dale, this is one my best friends, Dakota Stevens.” Dakota walked towards Dale and then came to a dead stop. “I know you. You’re that Ivy League guy Liz took up with in New York.” I pushed the screen door open and rushed down the porch towards him. “Dakota, don’t you dare go at him!” He spun around and faced me. “Fuck me, how is it possible for you to get even more beautiful, woman?” “Dakota,” my mother said. “Watch your mouth.” “Sorry, ma’am. I should’ve known it was in her genes. You are her momma after all.” His jaw was still tight. I tipped my head and exhaled. “I can tell by the way you’re standing that you want hit something. It will not be Dale. Understand?” “I wouldn’t dream of it, Liz. Hell, he’s probably one of those men who get manicures. I’d hate rough him up any. Tell me, is he still hanging around as ‘just a friend’ or has he bought your affection yet? Are you bought and paid for, Elizabeth?” “Dakota,” my father said. “If we’d known Dale was coming in, we’d have made sure to keep the two of you on opposite sides of the town until you and Liz had a chance to talk things out.” Dakota shook his head and laughed. “There’s not a whole lot to talk about, Doc. See, when your daughter had our wedding annulled it sort of summed it all up nice for me.” I looked at the ground, not wanting to meet Dale’s gaze. My father drew in a sharp breath. “Dakota, you and Liz never got married.” “You didn’t tell your daddy?” Dakota asked. “Of course you didn’t. It would mean disappointing him—again. Did you tell anyone that you spent three weeks as my wife, were all set to move to Texas with me and then changed your mind?” My mother stepped forward. “She told me, Dakota.” “That’s something. But, tell me, Liz, did you tell Ivy League about me? Hmm? Did you finally say it out loud? Did you tell him you loved him then? That you turned your husband away for asking you to leave his precious city? For asking you to leave him?” “The marriage was a mistake, Dakota. It was weekend trip to Vegas. I shouldn’t have gone with you. I knew better. I just....” “Say it, Elizabeth. You loved me and you were happy to see me again. Happy to know I’d finally got my shit,” he looked at my mother, “sorry, ma’am, my act together. Just admit it.” Tears flooded my eyes as I nodded. “You tore me apart on the inside, Dakota. You ended things with us horribly and Dale cleaned up your mess. Then, when you swept back in, making everything seem like it was no big deal, like water under the bridge and then demanded I cut the one man who was there while you were sowing your wild oats out of my life—what did you think I would do?” He shrugged. “I don’t know, leave with your husband to start a family that I know you’ve always wanted to have. We talked about it all the time. About how we’d do our thing away from here but then how we’d come back when it time to have kids of our own. How we’d raise them here, with morals. With a sense of family. Where they’d never be substandard.” I cringed at the word and Dakota caught it. He stiffened. “Elizabeth, they don’t treat you right up there, do they?” “It’s fine.” “Look at me.” He took his sunglasses off and leveled his blue gaze on me. His eyes  

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glistened. “Liz?” I couldn’t hold back. I broke down sobbing and Dakota had me wrapped in his arms in the blink of an eye. He rocked me back and forth. “Don’t cry, baby. I was being an ass ... erm ... jerk. Your momma’s going to wash my mouth out with soap again. Like she did when I was nine.” I laughed through my tears and clung to him. “His mother hates me, Dakota. She hates me worse than Mrs. Dermonts hates you and Nathan.” “Damn, Mrs. Dermonts fired a gun over our heads once. That’s a lot of hate,” he said, laughing softly, making me laugh too. “I think if she knew how to fire a rifle, she would. She thinks I’m after his money.” Dakota laughed. “Did you tell her your first husband is worth millions and that I’ve only increased my net worth with age? You should probably mention that you refused to let me buy you a place in New York and that I had to fight like hell just to get you to let me pay for dinner when I took you out.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Who would have thought my ex would be a vital character witness for me.” “Tell me that he told his mother where to stick her ideas about you or I’m going to turn around and do what I’ve wanted to do for six years, beat the living shit out of him.” “He called her a bitch and made her apologize,” I said, laughing through my tears. “So, I take it the two of you are married now? It’s been six years. That’s a long time. Nathan never mentioned it to me but he tends to stay tight-lipped where you’re concerned.” I laughed. “No. We’re not married. In fact, since you, I’ve run like hell from the idea of commitment.” “Pardon me if I don’t seem broken up about that. A little piece of me is happy you didn’t fall right into his arms, Liz.” He took a deep breath in and held me tight. “Do you love him?” “Yes, so much so that it scares me. I’m afraid he’ll hurt me like you did,” I said, so fast I shocked myself. Dakota stiffened. “I’m sorry.” “It’s okay now. He made it okay. But I won’t survive if he does it, Dakota. I won’t.” “Is he good to you?” “He has stupid moments but they’re few and far between. In fact, he’s the reason I stay up there. The idea of waking up and not having Dale in my life terrifies me.” Dakota kissed the top of my head. “Baby, you aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know. You’ve been scared of being without him for six years.” “Eight.” “What’s that?” I wiped my cheeks. “Eight years. He took a sick day once, eight years ago, about a month after I met him and I remember being so worried that I couldn’t eat or sleep until he came in the next day and I knew he was okay. So, eight years.” Dakota drew back from me and laughed. “I think you better talk to him now. I’m guessing Nathan and Scott are getting tired of pinning him down.” “Pinning him down?” I glanced over to find my brothers pinning a very pissed off looking Dale to the grass. My father arched his brow and pointed at Dale while he stared at me. “That boy’s going to ask you to marry him. You’re to say yes. I’ve been waiting eight years for you to wake up and realize you love that boy. He will be my son-in-law. Understood?” “Yes, Daddy.”  

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“And, Liz, there will be no annulling the wedding. Understood?” “Yes, Daddy.” Beth-Ann came running out of the house, and went straight towards Dale. She bent over the top of him and smiled. “Why are Daddy and Uncle Nathan sitting on you? Did you kiss Aunt Liz? Daddy said him and Uncle Nathan will beat up any boys who kiss me.” She gave Scott a hard look. “Daddy, how am I supposed to get cousins if you beat my Uncle up? Nana says she will die of old age before Uncle Nathan finds a wife who can put up with his temper. She also said that it takes a very patient man to be Aunt Liz’s husband. I don’t understand that but Nana says Uncle Dale has been waiting on Aunt Liz longer than I’ve been alive so can you get up?” Dale began to laugh as he stared up at her. “I can see why they named you Elizabeth too. You are so very much like your Aunt that I almost feel bad for your daddy.” “Hey,” Beth and I said in unison, making everyone laugh.

 

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Chapter Nineteen “Are you cold?” Dale asked, pulling the blanket over me as I sat on his lap, watching the lightning in the distance. The night air was chilly and damp from the storm moving in. I put my head on his chest, enjoying the feel of him. We’d been in Ohio for a week and it felt like only a blink of an eye. I didn’t want to leave but was having a hard time bringing myself to tell Dale. He seemed to have haven taken to the area and the people nicely. They took to him as well which meant a lot to me. “I’m good. How about you? Are you okay?” I asked, meaning more than just cold or not. “I would never turn my back on you or what we have, Liz. I’d never call you and break our engagement. Never. I’m not like him. I’ve said stupid things and I’ve teased you over the years, not understanding that I was playing into that. I love your accent. Sometimes, I’ll get you riled up, just to hear it. I love how hard and yet how incredibly innocent you are. You’re not jaded. You’re you and I love you.” “I love you, too.” He gasped. “What?” “That’s the first time you’ve said that to me.” “No it’s not. Is it?” He held me tight to him. “Why didn’t you tell me about Dakota?” “Because then I’d have had to tell you the truth about why I sent him away. And,” I cupped his face, “I wasn’t ready to understand why, Dale. I wasn’t ready to admit that I’ve been in love with you for a very long time.” “So, can you see yourself married to me?” he asked, holding me closer. “Can you see your belly swollen with our child in it? Can you see us really playing house, Liz?” “Yes.” He cupped my hand in his and slipped something over my finger. “I was hoping you’d say yes. I also knew better than to make a big production because you’d have gotten mad at me.” Thunder rolled and lightning flashed in the distance as I stared down at the square cut diamond with a white gold band. It was too big. I went to protest and he turned me to face him. I straddled his waist as he kissed me. He lifted me quickly and I wrapped my legs around him. Dale walked, kissing me and carrying me around the side of the house, down the stone path and straight to the door leading to my room. The minute he got it open, he was laying me down on the bathroom floor. I laughed. “I have a bed.” “Yes,” he kissed my neck, “but it all started for us on a bathroom floor, so this seemed fitting.” He tugged at my clothing and I helped him free me from it in record time. “Dale.” “Hmm?” He kissed my neck, leaving me arch my back to him. “I love you.” “I,” he kissed his way to my breasts, “love you, too.” I ran my hands into his hair and held his head as he sucked gently on my nipple. I wanted to  

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let him take his time but I needed him in me now. As I ran my hand over the side of his face, I caught sight of the ring on my finger and couldn’t stop the tears from coming. Dale moved up and over me quickly. “Liz-B, don’t cry.” “I can’t help it.” I pressed my lips to his and kissed him with every ounce of passion in my body. “I can’t believe it’s real, Dale. That this is real.” Nudging my legs apart, he settled between them before aligning the head of his cock with my heated core. He kissed me as he pressed in slightly. “Mmm, it’s real, honey. Very,” he drove into me, “very real.” I cried out and clung to him as he thrust his body into mine, the bathroom floor unyielding and only serving to make Dale feel even bigger in me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and countered his thrusts as pleasure built deep within me. A light sheen of sweat broke out and over Dale. Letting out a sultry laugh, I licked a line of it from his neck, savoring the taste and the feel of him in me. My orgasm struck with a force, leaving me panting and moaning beneath him as his cock twitched before depositing seed in me. As I stared up into his green eyes, I smiled. “Dale.” “Yes?” “I don’t want to live in New York forever.” A slow smile spread over his lips. “I know, honey.” “You’re not upset?” He pushed deeper into me. “Liz, you could tell me just about anything when I’m like this and I think I’d be okay with it.” It was my turn to smile. “I know. It’s why I brought it up right now.” He planted a chaste kiss on the tip of my nose. “I love you and I’ve always known the city wasn’t going to hold your interest but hearing you tell Dakota that you stay in New York because of me made it hit home. I want you to be happy, Liz.” I hugged him. “I want us to be happy.” “We will be.” “Dale, you’ll never make it living here in Ohio.” He began to move slowly in and out of me once more. “Liz-B, I’ll make it so long as I have you.” I stiffened, stopping his movements. “Dale, I’m serious. Someday, I’d like to have little ones I want them....” “To grow up here. I know. I do too.” He tried to enter me again but I kept my legs stiff. “Liz?” “Dale, I’m doing my best to try to tell you that I packed in a rush, upset and not thinking straight. I left my pills at home so we have to be more careful for the next two weeks or....” Licking his lower lip, Dale looked as if he were trying not to smile. “Liz, you haven’t remembered to take your pills since Friday morning.” Stunned, I stared up at him. “Dale?” He thrust into me and I moaned, unable to resist the urge to hold tight to him. He rode my body to completion and I felt like putty in his arms. He laughed. “Have I told you how beautiful you are? And how damn sexy you look flushed after coming?” “Dale.” He sighed. “Don’t start on me about the pills, Liz. I noticed but everything happened between us and I set the thought aside. I think part of me hoped....” Pressing my finger to his full lips, I silenced him. “We’re not ready for that yet, Dale. We  

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need time for each other first.” “We’ve had eight years.” I caressed the backs of his arms. “You don’t need to knock me up to know I’ll still be with you come morning, Dale. I think the last eight years should have proved that I can’t be without you.” He kissed me passionately. “I never once thought of using a child to tie you to me, Liz. All I’ve ever thought about is being with you, of having a family of our own.” He winked. “Doesn’t help any that Beth-Ann is absolutely adorable. And I’m really hoping our little girl will be just like her ... or should I say, just like you since Beth-Ann is a carbon copy of her aunt.” He withdrew and rolled onto his side. I turned to face him and groaned as the hard tile dug into my shoulder. “This isn’t comfortable.” Dale winked and within seconds had us up and off the floor and headed to my bed. He tackled me to it, bear hugging and spooning me as we fell. Laughing, I wiggled against his naked form. “Keep doing that and we’ll be doing that taboo thing you claim to like so much.” He pressed his sated cock against the cleft of my ass and kissed my earlobe. I smiled and turned my head so our lips could meet. I kissed him and then stared up into his green eyes. “Dale, I can’t go back to Baum Marketing and continue the way things were.” He stiffened. “I’d sure the hell hope not.” “That’s not what I meant. I mean,” I lifted my hand, the one with the engagement ring on it, “I can’t do this all there. I can’t flaunt it in front of Charles or the office.” His gaze remained hard. “I refuse to be a secret, Liz.” I sighed. “You’re not listening to me. I’m not asking you to be one. I’m trying to tell you that I’m going to put my resignation in and that I want to look for something closer to here, Dale.” He let out a long breath. “So, you want to move back to Ohio sooner rather than later?” “I do but I’ll go where you are. If you stay in New York, then I’ll stay there too but I will resign from Baum and find a different job somewhere else in the city.” He nudged his growing erection against my ass. “That, or, you could resign and stay home, waiting for me to get done with work. You could meet me at the door wearing nothing but a strand of pearls and a smile.” I glanced back at him prepared to laugh and stopped when I noted the serious look upon his face. “You’d want me like that? A wife who does nothing but wait for you?” “Is that a rhetorical question?” he asked with a smile. “Dale, I refuse to be like your mother.” He winced. “I should hope not.” “You know what I mean.” He winked and kissed my temple. “I know what you mean but I want to know something. I want to know that when we have little ones, we’ll raise them, not a nanny, not daycare, not boarding school, just us, Liz.” I ran my hand over his. “Honey, we will be the ones raising them.” “You’d stay home with them?” he asked, lifting a brow as if he was expecting an argument. “Of course I would. I love my career and I’ve worked hard to have it, Dale, but I don’t think we’re hurting in the area of money and we only get one chance to be with them when they’re little.” He closed his eyes and I knew something big was coming. “Liz. I agreed to take over my  

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father’s company.” I wanted to be happy for him. I did but I couldn’t stop myself from tearing up again. He kissed my temple. “Tell me why you look like you might cry.” “I’m happy for you, Dale. I am.” “Liz.” “It’s just that you won’t be able to leave New York if....” He kissed a line down the side of my face. “Honey, my father has been running the company from abroad and any other damn place he decides to hang his hat for the bit ever since I was a boy. I can handle things from anywhere. I won’t lie. There will be times I need to fly to the New York branch or even possibly the West Coast one but I wouldn’t be gone longer a day or two at most.” He smiled. “And depending on how old our little ones are and how much you feel like traveling, you could come with me.” The tears I’d been holding back broke loose and I kissed at his mouth, needing to taste him, feel him, anything to know he was there with me and always would be. He pressed his erection between my ass cheeks and reached back between us. Taking hold of his shaft, I rubbed the top through the aftermath of our sex and wiggled against Dale. He kissed me more, leaving me straining to keep my head turned enough. He tried to turn me for better access to my mouth but I shook my head, keeping hold of his cock and aligning him with my ass. He pressed forward and two quick pops later was buried deep within me. The pressure was great at first and took a moment for me to get used to. It wasn’t my first time with the experience, far from it. From the shocked look on Dale’s face, it was his first time. “Fuck me,” I whispered. “I can’t.” His jaw was tight. “If I move, I’ll come. You feel too ... arr ... Liz.” He jerked, pumping into me quickly. I reached down and tweaked my clit, rubbing it as Dale fucked me from behind. He ran his hand around my body and took the lead. In seconds, I was coming as he slammed into me, filling me completely. He sank against the bed and let out a shaky laugh, still staying in me. “Did you like it?” I asked. He stared at me with wide eyes. “Like it? I think I’m dead. I am, aren’t I? I’m dead and this is heaven.” “Nah, this is Ohio.” “Same difference,” he said with a wink. “Mmm, what do you want to do now?” “Shower and then head out to see how many people heard the bed squeaking.” Dale jolted up and off the bed, his eyes wide. I couldn’t help but laugh. He groaned. “You are evil.” “I know. Thanks.”

 

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Chapter Twenty I sat in the boardroom, my thoughts on everything but what Charles was saying. Dale sat next to me, his hand on my thigh, squeezing it gently. We’d been back to work all of an hour already I wanted to be back in Ohio or at the very least at my apartment. Two weeks away from it all wasn’t enough. While we were away, it was easy to forget we had a real world waiting for us to get back to it. Vincent Walters had done nothing but leer at me since I got back so did his sidekicks. Dale rubbed my inner thigh with his finger before lifting his hand and taking my hand in his, not seeming to care who saw him do it. All eyes went to our joined hands. Currently, Dale had my left cupped in his right, covering my engagement ring. I wondered if he might actually start pointing at it just to be sure Charles saw it. Thankfully, Dale refrained. Vincent snorted and said something I didn’t catch under his breath. Dale shot to his feet and Charles stopped what he was doing and glared at Vincent. “Everyone out.” I stood and Charles shook his head. “Everyone but you, Dale and Vincent.” Confused, I just stared around the boardroom as everyone else cleared out. Once they were gone, Charles motioned for me to come to him. Reluctantly, I did. “Elizabeth, if you’d be so kind as to lock the door.” “Uh, okay.” I did as Charles instructed and turned to find Dale looking like he was about to leap across the table and throw Vincent through the window. “Dale, what’s wrong?” “Oh, I believe he heard exactly what our Mr. Walters had to say,” Charles said, sounding like he might actually help Dale toss Vincent out the window. “What did he say?” Vincent’s gaze snapped to me. “Only the truth.” “And that would be?” Dale’s jaw was taut. He was going to blow. That much was clear. Vincent smiled, his gaze flickering to Charles. “Nothing.” Charles crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, don’t let the fact I’m standing here stop you. From what I’ve been told, you have no problem saying whatever the hell you want when you think it won’t get back to me, Mr. Walters.” I made a “T” with my hands. “Time out. What did he say that has everyone so upset?” “He said....” Dale took a deep breath and I knew he was on the verge of pummeling something. Charles cleared his throat. “He said that he wanted to be penciled in for next month with you, Elizabeth. That he couldn’t wait to have you suck him off if it meant he’d be tripping over himself at work the following day like Corbin.” I opened my mouth and closed it again. “Oh.” Charles’ gaze slid to my ring finger. I went to say something profound but he shook his head and motioned to Dale. “Corbin, if I’m asked about this at a later date, I will swear to it that he swung first.” It took a second for me to register what Charles was telling Dale to do. As I watched Dale  

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literally go up and over the table at Vincent, I gasped. Dale had Vincent knocked to the ground and was punching him repeatedly before I could so much as blink. I made a move to go stop him and Charles grabbed my arm. “Elizabeth, if it were my soon-to-be wife Vincent was talking about, I’d be doing the same.” Charles stood tall. “In fact, I do want to be doing it.” “Charles, stop them!” He arched a brow. “Them? Elizabeth, are you watching the same thing I am? Corbin hasn’t let Vincent get a hit in edgewise.” He cleared his throat. “Of course, if anyone asks, Vincent started it. Corbin was simply defending himself.” I shook my head and tried once more to go for Dale. Charles pulled me back towards him. “Elizabeth, you will stay out of it.” “Dale!” Dale slowly stopped beating Vincent to a pulp and took a step back. Much to my surprise, Dale didn’t look to have broken much of a sweat. I stared at him and then bent to look under the table at Vincent. “Did you kill him?” “Give me a minute more,” Dale said, his voice hard. I stood fast and a wave of dizziness swept over me. Charles caught me and held me firm to him. I steadied myself and waited for Dale to yell at me or charge Charles next for touching me. When he moved quickly around the table and stopped by the coffee and juice counter, I stared at him. He poured a cup of orange juice and grabbed a pastry from the tray. “Here, Liz, take a bit of this and drink something. You haven’t eaten yet today.” I took one look at the pastry and a wave of nausea rushed over me. I pushed out of Charles’ embrace and narrowly made it to the trashcan before a case of the dry heaves started. Charles was next to me an instant, pushing my hair back over my shoulder. Dale growled and Charles laughed. “Relax, Corbin, I think you’ve more than marked your territory.” Huh? Charles stroked my cheek lightly. “Hasn’t he, Elizabeth?” I stared at him, still clutching the trashcan, positive at any minute I’d actually throw my stomach up and out. “Yes, we’re engaged. We planned on telling you today but you were late getting into the office.” Charles smiled and nodded. “I figured as much. I’m not talking about the ring, Elizabeth. I’m talking about the morning sickness. Since I know for a fact you wouldn’t let me near you without wearing a....” I put my hand up, stopping him before Dale attacked him too. Charles laughed. “We had no accidents, Elizabeth. That leaves Corbin. Unless, you went and fell in love with someone other than him?” “It’s just me,” Dale bit out. “It will only ever be me from here on out.” Charles was unfazed by Dale’s threat. He smiled. “Corbin, I’m sure beating the hell out of Walters put you on a high but could you come off it long enough to recognize the signs that your fiancée is most likely expecting a child?” Dale had the juice and pastry thrust into Charles hand in a flash and was next to me, cupping my face, his bottom lip trembling. “Liz?” I gulped, my stomach tensing. “Dale, we’re not ready to be....” “Eight years, baby! Eight fucking years I’ve been in love with you and you know damn well  

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you’ve been in love with me for that long too. We’re ready, Liz. We’re more than ready. I didn’t want to tell you but I kind of suspected it would happen when we were in Ohio.” I stared wide-eyed at him. “Dale.” He had the decency to blush. “What? I know your cycle like the back of my hand. I had a lot of hope hinging on us having a life together.” He lifted my hand, the one with the engagement ring on it. “You promised to spend your life with me. Liz-B. Let’s make sure it’s full of beautiful little versions of you.” He winked. I choked back a sob. “Dale.” “Do you love me?” “Yes.” “Then, tell Baum you’re quitting so we can get moved to Ohio. I have it on good authority that you want to raise our little ones there.” I tried to keep my emotions in check but failed miserably. I tossed my arms around Dale’s neck and almost knocked him to the floor. He chuckled and held me tight to him. “I love you, Liz.” “I love you, too,” I said softly before remembering we had an audience. I drew back from Dale and stared up at Charles. He nodded his head in approval, straightened his jacket and turned to head out of the boardroom. He stopped. “I’ll send someone in to get Vincent and I’ll expect an invitation to the wedding. If the two of you wouldn’t mind, I’d like your help closing out the Becker case before you leave since I’m assuming you are both resigning.” I glanced at Dale who kissed my forehead lightly. “I can promise to help but I won’t commit Liz especially not if she turns out to be pregnant.” “The odds of that are....” Dale glanced towards the trashcan. “Sitting at the bottom of that.” I gave him a droll look. He smiled. “Let’s get you cleaned up and then when your stomach settles you need to eat something.” My stomach picked then to gurgle in protest. He laughed. “Oh, yep, I’m being blessed with another stubborn you. Beth-Ann may soon lose the title.” I held tight to his forearms. “Your mother is going to pop a blood vessel.” “Why? Because my wife and I are having a baby?” “We’re not married yet, Dale.” He pulled his cell phone off his belt loop, flipped it open and hit a button. Grinning, he wagged his brows. “Hey, Seth, it’s Dale. She agreed to marry me. Can you get with the girls and her mother to start the planning?” He covered the phone with his hand and stared at me. “Do you want a rushed wedding or would you like to wait until after the little one comes because I’m voting for tomorrow.” I just stared at him as he went back to talking to Seth. “Yes, you heard me right. We’re thinking you and Jeffrey might be uncles before too long. Just a hunch though. Nothing has been confirmed. Well, unless you count Liz tossing her cookies in the trash—” I slapped his arm and he stopped making fun of me. “Jerk.” “Yes, but I’m a jerk who is hopelessly in love with you.” “Figures,” I said, laughing as I hugged him.  

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THE END Mandy M. Roth loves hearing from readers. You can read more about her other New Concept titles by visiting www.mandyroth.com or send by emailing [email protected].

 

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