Four
Lori Lee hadn’t
spoken to Rick since their passionate encounter in the basement,
and she’d seen him only at a distance. Although Rick’s sister
brought Darcie to practice and often picked her up, Rick had
managed to pick up his daughter twice. And he’d been late both
times. Since he worked from eight till five, there was no reason he
couldn’t get to the studio by six-thirty, right after Darcie’s
class ended. What did he do during that hour and a half that
delayed him?
Lori Lee had told herself she didn’t
care what Rick did and with whom he did it. She was not going to
get involved with a man who could mean nothing but trouble for her.
He might claim to be trying to reform, but Lori Lee doubted his
ability to change. Of course, whether or not Rick was a new man
really didn’t matter. She was the same woman who had miscarried
three babies and been told she could never have a child of her
own.
In the weeks since meeting Darcie
Warrick, Lori Lee had guarded her emotions, knowing how easy it
would be for her to love Rick’s little girl. “My name’s Darcie
Lee,” the child had informed her. “We’ve got the same middle name,
don’t we?”
She had wondered if Rick had named his
daughter after her. Was it truly possible that he’d cared about her
all these years? She certainly hadn’t been able to forget him. When
her marriage had begun to fall apart, she had thought more and more
about Rick, often fantasizing that he was the one making love to
her instead of Tory.
“Hey, girl, where’d you go off to?”
Deanie Webber punched Lori Lee on the arm.
Gasping, Lori Lee came out of her
private thoughts and smiled sadly. “Just thinking about
Darcie.”
“Look, I’ll be glad to take her home
since Rick’s running a little late,” Deanie said. “It’s not much
out of my way.”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I’m sure
Rick will be here soon. He’s usually late.”
“Maybe he runs late on purpose so he
can talk to you for a few minutes without so many twirler mothers
hanging around undressing him with their eyes.”
Lori Lee chuckled. “You and Aunt Birdie
have a knack for cutting to the chase and saying just what you
think.” She sighed. “But you’re wrong about Rick’s reason for being
late. He doesn’t come in and talk to me. He meets Darcie
outside.”
“So what happened to scare him off?”
Deanie asked. “What did you do, lie to him and tell him you weren’t
interested?”
“I’m not interested.” Lori Lee crossed
her arms over her chest.
“Yeah, sure. And I don’t cheat on my
diet. Get real. This is Deanie you’re talking to.”
“Rick and I agreed that we aren’t
suitable.” Lori Lee lowered her voice to a soft murmur when Darcie
and Katie Webber came bounding down the stairs.
“Look at us, Lori Lee,” Katie said.
“I’ve been practicing our Twinkle Toes dance routine with Darcie
just like you asked me to do.”
“We’ll discuss this later,” Deanie
whispered to Lori Lee, then turned her attention toward the two
six-year-olds in hot-pink tights and black leotards who were
eagerly waiting to perform. “Go ahead, girls. Show us your
routine.”
“You won’t believe how good Darcie is,”
Katie said. “She’s going to do great when we go to
Clanton.”
“Well, let’s see what you two can do.”
Lori Lee focused her attention on Rick’s daughter, on the adorable
blue-eyed blonde who seemed to worship her. The child obviously
needed and wanted a mother, and for some reason she had chosen Lori
Lee. Perhaps it was because so many people had commented about the
striking resemblance between the two of them. And more than one
twirler mother had commented on how talented Darcie was, having
taken lessons only a month and already upstaging some of the more
seasoned students.
Watching Darcie and Katie perform the
dance she had choreographed to the song “Singing in the Rain,” from
the old MGM Gene Kelly movie, Lori Lee smiled proudly at how well
the two girls did the number. People were right. Darcie Warrick
possessed a natural talent for dancing, twirling and showmanship,
the way Lori Lee always had.
A feeling like none she’d ever known
swirled up inside of Lori Lee, clutching her heart, misting her
eyes with tears and taunting her with irrational thoughts.
This Little girl—Rick’s daughter—is mine.
For some reason fate had played a horrible trick on her by giving
the child that was meant to be hers to another woman.
Deanie’s loud clapping brought Lori Lee
quickly back to reality. She applauded with great enthusiasm, then
rushed over and hugged both girls. Darcie clung to her, hugging her
fiercely, as if she never wanted to let her go.
“Y’all were wonderful,” Lori Lee told
them.
Katie ran to Deanie, who kissed her
child’s cheek. “I swear, you are the best little girl in the whole
world. You got my looks and your dad’s brains.” Katie giggled at
her mother’s playfully loving comments.
As Lori Lee stood, Darcie grabbed her
hand and gazed up at her with a pleading look that asked for
recognition.
Dear God! Lori Lee closed her eyes,
blinking back the tears as she fought and gained control of her
emotions. Her instincts told her to claim this child, to give
Darcie Warrick exactly what she wanted—a mother. But she couldn’t
do that. It would be wrong. Wrong for Darcie. And wrong for
her.
Lori Lee cupped Darcie’s chin with her
hand. “Your father will be so proud of you, sweetheart. When he
picks you up today, I’m going to ask him if you can perform the
Halftime Show Dance Line routine with our Twinkle Toes group when
we go to Clanton.”
Darcie jumped up and down. Katie
followed suit. Within minutes both girls were clapping their hands
and squealing with childish glee.
“Am I really that good, Lori Lee?”
Darcie asked.
“You’re really that good,” Lori Lee
said. “And if you continue to practice, I have no doubt you’ll be
ready to move into Twinkle Toes and compete in all their events by
the end of summer.”
“Well, I hate to leave when we’re
having such a good time,” Deanie said. “But Phil will be home soon
and he’s taking us out for dinner.” Deanie lifted her child’s coat
off the rack and held it out for her. “Come on, Katie. We’ve got to
go.” Deanie glanced at her watch, then at Lori Lee. “It’s ten till
seven. Are you sure you don’t want me to drop Darcie by
Eve’s?”
“No, thanks. If Rick isn’t here soon,
I’ll take Darcie home myself.”
“Good idea.” Deanie winked
mischievously at Lori Lee as she helped Katie into her coat. “I’ll
expect a full report.”
“There will be nothing to report,” Lori
Lee called after Deanie as she and Katie waved
goodbye.
Darcie tugged on Lori Lee’s hand. “I’m
sorry my daddy’s late. Sometimes he takes a nap after he gets home
from work. He works very hard and gets tired.”
Lori Lee nodded as if she understood,
but in truth, she was upset that Rick could be so irresponsible.
Other parents, some also single, managed to pick up their children
on time. Why couldn’t he?
“Do you know if your Aunt Eve is home?”
Lori Lee asked.
“Aunt Eve’s probably at her ceramic
class right now, and Uncle Tommy’s baby-sitting,” Darcie said.
“That means tonight is hamburger night and Uncle Tommy’s cooking. I
like his hamburgers, but they’re not as good as my
daddy’s.”
“Well, it looks like something has delayed your father.” Lori Lee removed
Darcie’s coat and her own from the wall rack. “I’ll run you home. I
want to talk to your father.”
Lori Lee helped Darcie into her coat,
then slipped into her own. She retrieved her shoulder bag from the
desk, turned off the lights and opened the front door.
Once they were settled inside Lori
Lee’s white Buick Riviera, Darcie said, “My daddy’s not married,
you know.”
“Yes, I know.” Lori Lee inserted the
key in the ignition and started the car.
“He dates. Aunt Eve’s been trying to
find him a wife, but he hasn’t dated anybody we want to
keep.”
Lori Lee smiled despite her best
efforts not to. “Is that right?”
“Yeah. Aunt Eve says that Daddy’s too
hard to please. But he told her that he wasn’t going to marry just
anybody. He wants to find somebody special that we’ll both
love.”
“I’m sure your father will find the
right woman one of these days.” Lori Lee couldn’t believe she was
actually discussing Rick’s love life with his six-year-old
daughter.
“You aren’t married are you, Lori Lee?”
Darcie asked.
Lori Lee knew where this conversation
was headed if she didn’t steer it in another direction. “No, I’m
not married, but I already have several boyfriends.”
“Wouldn’t you like to have one
more?”
Lori Lee was both touched and amused by
Darcie’s matchmaking scheme. Heaven help her and Rick if the child
ever joined forces with Aunt Birdie.
“I don’t know how I’d make time for
another boyfriend,” Lori Lee said, trying desperately to keep a
straight face.
“Couldn’t you get rid of one of your
other boyfriends and make room for somebody new?”
“Look, we’re here already.” Lori Lee
pulled her Riviera into Eve Nelson’s double driveway. Rick’s
sister’s house was on East Sixth Street, just a few minutes’ drive
from downtown. Glad for an excuse not to have to answer Darcie’s
question, Lori Lee unbuckled her seat belt, then reached over and
undid Darcie’s.
“I’ll go tell Uncle Tommy I’m home,
while you go up to our apartment and talk to Daddy. You can tell
him I’ll fix him a hamburger and have it ready for him.” Darcie
opened the car door, then glanced back at Lori Lee. “I’m sure it
would be all right if you wanted to stay and eat with
us.”
“Oh. Well, it’s awfully nice of you to
invite me, but I’m afraid I can’t stay. Not tonight.”
“Sometime soon, maybe?”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll get Aunt Eve to call you.” Before
Lori Lee could respond, Darcie jumped out of the car and dashed
into the house. Lori Lee got out, walked straight up the driveway
to the garage apartment and climbed the steps. Backyard floodlights
illuminated the Nelsons’ yard and house, as well as the large
detached garage and upstairs apartment.
Lori Lee had wondered if she’d find
Rick at home. His old GMC pickup truck was parked in the garage
below, so she assumed he was here.
She knocked on the front door. No
answer. She knocked again. Harder. Louder. Still no reply. She
tried the doorknob, and to her surprise the door opened. Easing
inside, she glanced around at the small, rather dismal room. A
compact stove, refrigerator, sink and several cabinets lined the
pale green right wall. The furnishings were sparse. There was a
card table and four folding chairs near the kitchen alcove, and a
well-worn, olive green sofa and matching rocker in the living room
area. Two mismatched lamps, both burning brightly, sat atop a
couple of old pine end tables. Miniblinds covered the
windows.
“Rick?” she called out to him. “Where
are you?”
There were three doors from which to
choose. One was partially open and she could tell it was a tiny
bathroom. Another was to her left and the final one straight in
front of her. She picked the door in front of her, opening it to
discover a small bedroom painted a pale shade of blue and decorated
with a tiny floral print perfect for a little girl. Eve Nelson must
have put together the precious room for her niece.
“Rick! Are you here? I brought Darcie
home.”
Turning to the left, she opened the
third door and found a dark place not much larger than the
bathroom. The light from the living room cast wavy gray shadows
into the area. A bed without a headboard had been pushed up against
the wall and took up most of the floor space. Rick Warrick, still
wearing his navy blue work coveralls, lay sprawled out across the
bed, snoring loudly.
What was wrong with him? Was he sick?
Drunk? She leaned over, called his name and shook him gently. He
grabbed her wrist and hauled her down on top of him. Lori Lee cried
out, partly in surprise and partly in fear. The man lying beneath
her was big and hard and very strong. Her heartbeat accelerated at
a maddening speed.
He blinked his eyes several times and
stared up into her face. “Lori Lee?” His voice was deep and groggy.
He closed his eyes. “Dreaming,” he whispered the word against her
lips.
She trembled. “Rick. You’re not
dreaming. Wake up.”
He bound her tightly to him, caressing
her hip and thigh. She moaned softly, her body instinctively
softening into his.
His eyes flew open. He shot straight up
into a sitting position, almost knocking Lori Lee off the bed.
Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her onto his
lap.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He
growled the question.
As always, he badly needed a shave and
a haircut. And as always, he looked incredibly handsome and sexy.
“I brought Darcie home. It’s seven o’clock. You forgot to pick her
up at the studio.”
“Oh, God, Lori Lee, I’m sorry. I set my
alarm, but the damned thing didn’t go off.”
She jumped up, placed her hands on her
hips and glared at Rick. “We need to talk.”
He grabbed the clock, shook it and
groaned. “I’ll have to get some new batteries.” Standing, he rubbed
his bristly chin and yawned. “Where’s Darcie?”
“She’s fixing you a hamburger over at
your sister’s house,” Lori Lee said, backing away from him. “I
understand this is Uncle Tommy’s night to cook.”
“Yeah, Tommy’s great with kids. His two
and Darcie. I don’t know what I’d do without his and Eve’s help.”
Rick moved toward her, backing her against the wall. “It isn’t easy
raising a kid alone.”
“Other people seem to manage.” Lori Lee
shoved against Rick’s chest, but he didn’t budge. “You’re always
late picking her up and today is a prime example of what an
irresponsible father you are. Why do you need a nap in the
afternoon? It wouldn’t be because you’re out carousing around all
night, would it? From what Darcie has said, I get the idea she
spends several nights a week at her Aunt Eve’s.”
When Rick backed away from Lori Lee,
she escaped into the living room. Standing in the doorway, Rick
snorted and shook his head. His accusing stare bored into
her.
“You’ve condemned me without a trial,
haven’t you, honey? Once an irresponsible hell-raiser, always an
irresponsible hell-raiser. Is that the way you see
it?”
“Am I wrong?” Gripping her leather
shoulder bag, she glared at him.
“How could you possibly be wrong about
anything? You’re Lori Lee Guy.”
“I can’t understand why you’d leave
that precious child to go out tomcatting around at night when you
could be at home with her. If she were mine—”
“But she’s not yours,” Rick said.
“She’s mine, and for your information—” He stopped talking
midsentence. “No, you go ahead and think what you want to think,
believe what you want to believe.”
“I wanted to believe, for Darcie’s
sake, that you’d changed.”
He took a step toward her. She backed
away. He continued walking toward her until he forced her into the
open doorway leading to the small wooden stoop at the top of the
stairs.
“You want to think I’m still the town
bad boy who isn’t worthy to kiss your feet.” Rick grasped Lori
Lee’s shoulders, his big fingers biting into her tender flesh.
“You’re looking for a reason not to like me, to think the worst of
me. It makes it easier to reject me if you can convince yourself
that I’m not a decent person.”
“That’s not true.” Lori Lee realized he
was going to kiss her and knew she was powerless to stop
him.
The kiss was fast, forceful and almost
brutal. A kiss of anger as much as of passion. She felt the
powerful effect from her spinning head to her weak
knees.
Releasing her, Rick stepped back into
his apartment. The light from inside the living room silhouetted
his big body. Lori Lee looked at him, uncertainty and longing
waging a war inside her. Uncertainty won. She turned and fled,
running down the stairs and out to her car.
Lori Lee curled up on the sofa and
sipped the cinnamon spice tea she’d poured into one of her good
china cups. Tyke lay at her side, snoring. She ran her hand over
his little head and down his neck. He grunted, turned over on his
back, his feet in the air, and continued sleeping.
Lori Lee laughed, envying her dog’s
easy life. “You’ve got it made, buddy boy, and you don’t even know
it.”
When she’d come home tonight, she had
taken a long bubble bath, eaten a light salad, then put on a
classical music CD. Whenever she felt especially lonely or sad, she
treated herself to little creature comforts she found so
consoling.
Her encounter with Rick had been more
than unpleasant; it had been frightening. Not that she thought Rick
would harm her physically. No, she knew he wasn’t that type of man.
But his ability to harm her emotionally could not be dismissed
lightly. Her foolish attraction to him posed a threat not only to
her sanity, but to her safe, secure, orderly life. She’d be a fool
to trust him. She doubted he’d ever been faithful to a woman in his
entire life.
And her emotional involvement with his
daughter created problems for her she wasn’t sure she could handle.
As much as she loved all children, she found herself drawn to
Darcie Warrick more than any other child. Perhaps because she
recognized the need in Darcie, the hungry longing for a mother,
just as Lori Lee’s maternal instincts called out for a child of her
own.
Maybe she needed another dog. Or even a
cat. Aunt Birdie had two dogs and four cats, and treated them all
like spoiled children. Lori Lee had bought Tyke four years ago when
he was three months old. She had wanted to have someone waiting for
her when she came home. Someone to keep her company. Someone
besides other people’s children on which to lavish her love and
attention.
The doorbell rang. Gasping, Lori Lee
jumped. Who on earth? Glancing at the mantel clock, she noted it
was after nine o’clock. She got up, tightened the belt around her
black velvet robe and went to the door. Peering through the
viewfinder, she saw Eve Nelson standing on her front porch.
Although puzzled by the woman’s unexpected visit, Lori Lee opened
the door and greeted her guest with a smile.
“Please, come in, Eve,” Lori Lee
said.
“Thanks.” Eve walked into the small
marble-floored foyer. “I apologize for not calling first, but I
felt it was important that we talk, face-to-face, and I was afraid
if I called first, you might not see me.”
“May I take your coat and
purse?”
“No. I won’t be here long.” Eve
unbuttoned her beige wool coat.
“All right. Why don’t we go into the
den?” Lori Lee motioned the direction with a sweep of her hand. “I
was just having a cup of cinnamon tea. Would you care for
some?”
“No, thank you.” Eve followed Lori Lee
into her warm, cozy den, decorated in an eclectic fashion. Antiques
blended with several secondhand store finds—new mixed beautifully
with old.
“What’s wrong, Eve? You seem upset.”
Lori Lee sat on the sofa, then indicated for her guest to be
seated.
Eve shook her head. “No, I’d rather
stand. I probably have no right to be here, but after Rick told me
what happened, I felt I had no choice.”
“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what
you’re talking about.” Lori Lee gazed quizzically at Eve. “Exactly
what did Rick tell you?”
“He said that he overslept and didn’t
pick up Darcie from twirler practice, so you brought her home.” Eve
wrung her hands repeatedly and shifted her weight from one foot to
the other and then back again. “When you brought her home, you
chewed him out and told him he was an irresponsible father. You
even accused him of staying out all night, tomcatting
around.”
“He didn’t deny it.” Had Rick sent his
sister here to defend him? If he was innocent, if he had an
explanation for his actions, why hadn’t he come himself to confront
her?
“I cannot believe you accused him of
such a thing, or that you could actually believe Rick is an
irresponsible father. His whole world revolves around Darcie.
Everything he’s doing, he’s doing for her.”
“I don’t doubt that Rick loves his
child, but his actions indicate a lack of responsibility. Whenever
he picks her up at the studio, he’s always late, and today he
didn’t even show up.”
“He tries to catch a nap every evening.
His alarm didn’t go off today.”
“If he stayed home at night he wouldn’t
need an afternoon nap, would he?”
“You’re wrong if you think Rick wants
to be gone at night. He’d much rather be home with Darcie,
but—”
“But what?” Lori Lee interrupted,
nervous and agitated at the realization she might have misjudged
Rick. “If he’s not out tomcatting around at night, why would he
need a nap in the evening?”
“Because he works two jobs,” Eve said.
“At seven-thirty, four nights a week, he leaves Darcie at my house
and goes to a garage he rented up on North Main. He’s restoring a
’59 Corvette for your friend, Powell Goodman. Rick doesn’t get in
until after midnight and he’s up at five every morning to do the
laundry, clean the apartment and fix breakfast.”
“He’s working two jobs?” Lori Lee
asked, an incredulous look in her eyes. “But why?”
“Because he wants to take out a loan to
buy Bobo Lewis’s half of the business when Bobo retires. He used
his entire life savings to buy into the business to start with, and
now he’ll have to borrow a substantial amount of money. He needs as
much up front as he can possibly earn.”
A sad, heart-wrenching realization came
over Lori Lee. She understood Rick’s reasoning without Eve
explaining any further. “He wants to be a respected businessman so
that people here in Tuscumbia will accept Darcie.”
Tears welled up in Eve’s brown eyes.
“I’ve never seen a man try so hard. This need he has to give Darcie
everything he wanted and never had is eating away at him. You have
no idea what a financial burden it is on him to pay for Darcie’s
lessons and buy her costumes. And...” Eve hesitated as if carefully
considering what she was going to say. “You can’t imagine how much
your opinion of him matters.”
“How could I have been so stupid? Oh,
Eve, I said some terrible things to him. You have every right to be
upset with me. I’m glad you came over and set me straight. I owe
Rick an apology.”
“Yes, you do.” Eve sighed, then smiled
weakly. “I don’t want you or anyone else thinking badly of Rick,
assuming he’s the way he used to be. He’s changed a lot because of
Darcie. He’s trying to be a good father. Your accusations were
totally unfounded.”
“I appreciate your talking so honestly
with me,” Lori Lee said. “I promise that I’ll speak to him. I’ll
apologize.”
“Thanks, Lori Lee. Rick needs all the
support he can get, but especially from people like
you.”
“What do you mean, people like
me?”
“People he used to know years ago who
always looked down on him.”
“I never...” Lori Lee didn’t finish her
sentence, realizing that she had been a part
of the crowd who’d indeed looked down their noses at Rick and other
people like him. And she was still a part of that same crowd. “I
want Rick to succeed, and I’ll do whatever I can to help see that
Darcie is accepted by the other girls.”
“She’s crazy about you, you know.” Eve
nervously adjusted her shoulder bag. “She talks about you all the
time. You’ve helped her already, more than you know.”
“I’m very fond of Darcie,” Lori Lee
admitted. And I could easily love her far more than
would be good for either of us.
“I need to be going. I appreciate your
understanding of the situation. Please continue being a good friend
to Darcie. And...well, be Rick’s friend, too, if you
can.”
“Thanks for coming by.” Standing, Lori
Lee smiled graciously at Rick’s sister. “I’ll walk out with
you.”
Lori Lee stood on the front porch until
Eve hopped in her Bronco and started the engine, then she went back
inside and locked the front door. Hesitating in the foyer, she
suddenly realized what she wanted to do—what she had to do. She was
going to see Rick tonight and tell him how sorry she was for
jumping to all the wrong conclusions. Even if they could never be
anything more, maybe they could be friends. She had a feeling that
Rick didn’t make friends easily, and if there was one thing he
could use in this town, it was someone in her crowd to befriend him
and his child.
The concrete block garage on North Main
Street had once been a service station back in the sixties. Now,
with peeling paint, broken windows and grass growing through the
cracks in the driveway, the place appeared deserted, except for the
light on inside. Lori Lee parked her Riviera in front, then got out
and glanced up and down the street. It was nearly ten o’clock. Most
people were snug in their warm homes, no one anywhere around to
wonder what Lori Lee Guy was doing out alone on North Main late at
night. The cold February wind whipped through Lori Lee’s jeans.
Hurrying to the entrance, she tried the handle and found the door
locked. She pounded her gloved fist against the metal
door.
She had argued with herself over the
pros and cons of seeking Rick out tonight. She could have waited
until tomorrow and called him. That would have been the sensible
thing to do. But when it came to Rick Warrick, she found it
difficult to always be sensible.
No matter how many times the rational
part of her brain warned her of the foolishness of this action, her
heart had urged her not to wait. She had wrongly accused Rick. She
needed to make amends. He had spent a lifetime being judged by
other people’s standards. He’d been condemned for being a loner, an
outsider, a brooding hell-raiser.
Rick flung open the door. Lori Lee
jumped back to avoid being knocked sideways. He glared at her, his
brown eyes narrowing speculatively.
“What the hell are you doing
here?”
She looked at him, all six feet four
inches of hard, lean man. Grease streaks smeared his forehead and
the edge of his jaw. His ragged jeans and thermal underwear top
were stained and dirty. An unruly lock of his long black hair hung
over one eye.
She tried to speak, but her vocal cords
wouldn’t cooperate, issuing only a squeaking sound. She gazed up at
him pleadingly. The howling wind whirled dead leaves and scattered
debris around Lori Lee’s ankles. Shivering, she crossed her arms
over her chest and gripped her elbows in an effort to stay
warm.
“Come on. Get in here before you freeze
to death out there.” Rick closed and locked the door behind them,
then clasped her shoulder, jerking her around to face him. “What do
you want?”
“We need to talk,” Lori Lee told
him.
“I think you already said just about
everything you wanted to say. I don’t have time to listen to any
more of your parenting lectures.” He noticed her looking over his
shoulder, surveying the garage’s interior and Powell Goodman’s
disassembled vehicle. “By the way, how did you know where to find
me?”
“Eve.” She cleared her throat, then
lowered the jacket hood from her head and swung her head to free
her hair. “Your sister stopped by my house and explained everything
to me.”
Damn, he wished she wouldn’t do that.
Swing her hair that way. Lori Lee had the most beautiful hair. It
fell below her shoulder blades in thick, blond waves. He’d gotten
more than one hard-on wondering what it would be like to have that
mass of gold spread out on his pillow as he plunged deeply into her
welcoming body.
“So Eve set you straight on a few
things, huh? I still don’t understand what you’re doing here.”
Releasing her shoulder, he glowered at her. Why hadn’t Eve left
well enough alone? He never should have told his sister what had
happened. He’d had no idea she’d confront Lori Lee.
“I came to apologize,” she
said.
Rick grunted, then turned his back on
her and stomped over to the Corvette. “Go home. Leave me the hell
alone.”
She instinctively knew that he was more
hurt than angry. She had been the one who’d hurt him, and it was up
to her to make amends.
“It’s not very warm in here,” she said,
determined to stay and make Rick listen to her. “Isn’t there any
heat?”
“Kerosene heater.” He nodded toward the
small round heater near the back of the garage. “It mostly knocks
off the chill. The place isn’t insulated and what windows aren’t
broken are cracked.”
“I had no idea anyone still used this
place for anything.” She walked toward him, careful to avoid
stepping on the various tools and car parts lying about on the
floor. “It should have been condemned and torn down years
ago.”
“The rent’s cheap,” he told her.
“That’s all that’s important to me.”
“I take it that this—” she pointed to
the shell of the vehicle “—is Powell Goodman’s ’59 ’Vette. He told
me he was having it restored, but I had no idea you were doing the
work. That is, not until Eve explained about—”
“You’re dating Powell, aren’t you?”
Rick jerked a orange rag from his back pocket and wiped the grime
off his hands.
“Yes, Powell and I have been seeing
each other for a couple of years now.”
“Sleeping with him?”
Lori Lee gasped, then wished she hadn’t
when she saw the smirky grin on Rick’s face. “I don’t think that’s
any of your business.”
“Are you going to marry
him?”
“He’s asked me,” she said.
“What’s keeping you from saying
yes?”
For one thing she wasn’t in love with
Powell. For another, she didn’t think he really loved her. Like
Tory, Powell thought of her as an asset, someone to impress his
friends and associates. She was not only decorative on a man’s arm,
but she possessed the type of breeding and taste some men thought
essential in a mate.
“If Powell were the right man, you’d be
willing to risk everything to be his wife.”
Lori Lee froze to the spot. Her gaze
clashed with Rick’s, and she knew he saw the truth in her eyes. She
hated being exposed this way. “Powell would make a fine husband for
almost any woman,” she said. Rick took several steps toward her.
“I’m seeing Jimmy Davison, too.” Rick moved in on her. “You
remember Jimmy, don’t you?”
Rick slipped one arm around her waist,
then cupped her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “If you
really came here to apologize, then I’m listening. And if you want
to make it up to me for condemning me unjustly, I know just the
way.”
When he lowered his head, intent on
kissing her, Lori Lee shoved him away. “No, Rick. I—I did come to
apologize, and to tell you that I’d like to be your friend. And
Darcie’s friend.”
Lifting his eyebrows in a skeptical
gesture, he stared at her, then broke into hearty laughter. “You
want to be my friend?”
“Yes. After Eve explained about your
working two jobs and the reason why, I understood and sympathized.
If you and Darcie are going to fit in around here, you’ll need
help. I know Eve and Tom will do their part, but I’m in a position
to smooth the way, especially for Darcie.”
“Why would you want to help me and my
daughter?”
Lori Lee wanted to be honest with him
without revealing her innermost feelings. If she allowed Rick to
see how vulnerable she was to him and to his child, he might well
take advantage of her and plunge them all into a situation that
could lead only to disappointment and hurt for
everyone.
“I admire what you’re trying to do,”
Lori Lee said. “I was wrong to call you an irresponsible parent and
to accuse you of...well, of—”
“I believe your exact words were
tomcatting around.”
“Don’t remind me.” Reaching out, she
clasped Rick’s arm. “I’m sorry that I jumped to all the wrong
conclusions, that I assumed you were the same old
Rick.”
He glanced down at her hand circling
his forearm. Before she could protest, he grabbed her and pulled
her into an intimate embrace. With his face leaning into hers, he
whispered against her lips. “I thought you kind of liked the old
Rick.”
“I was fascinated by you, but I was
also afraid of you,” she admitted breathlessly.
“How do you feel about me now?” he
asked, brushing her lips lightly with his own. “Do you find the new
Rick fascinating? Are you still afraid of me?”
“I respect you for wanting to make
something of yourself so you can give your child a better life than
the one you had.” When he laid his cheek against hers, she closed
her eyes, savoring the rough, bristly feel of his beard. Rick
smelled of grease and sweat and pure masculine power. Lori Lee
swallowed hard. “And yes, you still fascinate me and still frighten
me. You have an effect on me I can’t explain.”
“Lori Lee,” he groaned her name just as
he took her mouth.
Pure pleasure spiraled through her as
he kissed her with tender possession. When she didn’t resist, he
deepened and strengthened his assault. He grabbed her by the back
of her head, pressing her into his marauding mouth. She should tell
him to stop, but she couldn’t. She should tell him that all she had
to offer was friendship, but she didn’t. She should warn him that
they had no future together, but she suspected he already
knew.
Lori Lee gave herself over to the
moment, to the sweet, glorious feeling of being in Rick’s arms, of
taking and giving pleasure almost beyond enduring. He always had
and always would be forbidden to her. A man not to trust. A
temptation to be resisted. But she couldn’t resist him, didn’t want
to resist him, tonight.
“You have no idea how much I want you,”
he mouthed the words against the pulse throbbing in her neck.
“Every time I look at you, I get hard and all I can think about is
making love to you.”
Her body quivered. Her stomach
fluttered. “Rick, please...I didn’t come here for this. I came here
to...”
But when he kissed her again, she
forgot what she was saying, forgot why she was protesting. All she
wanted was Rick. Here. Now. Hot and wild and filling her body with
his strength.
Caressing her buttocks, he lifted her
into his arousal. Standing on tiptoe, she rubbed against him, then
ran her fingers up his neck and into his hair. Grabbing his hair,
she held his face to hers, and took charge of their kiss,
commanding him to return her passionate forcefulness.
Cupping her back end, he lifted her.
She wrapped her legs around his hips and draped her arms around his
neck. He kissed her, his tongue thrusting into her warm, wet mouth.
He carried her toward the old, battered wooden table in the back
corner of the garage. Holding her against him with one arm, he
reached down and swiped the stack of clean rags and assorted tools
off the table. The tools hit the floor with a loud
clatter.
Rick sat Lori Lee on the table, then
unsnapped and unzipped her jeans. “If you don’t want this as much
as I do, honey, say so now, ’cause in a couple of seconds I’ll be
too far gone to stop.”
Who was he kidding? He was past that
point already. He was in the
if-anyone-tries-to-stop-me-I’ll-kill-them stage. At this precise
moment, nothing mattered except making love to Lori Lee. Here. Now.
As soon as humanly possible.
His sex strained painfully against the
crotch of his jeans. “I’m in a world of hurt, baby.”
Lifting her hips, she pulled her jeans
off and tossed them on the floor. She was already beyond reasoning.
She acted purely on instincts and feelings. “Don’t talk. Don’t
talk. Just—”
While he kissed her over and over
again, he delved his hand inside her bikini panties. He cupped her
mound, then stroked her feminine core. She squirmed and moaned and
clung to Rick, saying his name repeatedly between heated kisses. He
slid two fingers inside her, testing her readiness. She was wet and
hot with need.
She cried out. Her body tightened
around his fingers. He jerked her panties down and off. She kicked
them aside.
He loosened himself from his jeans and
boxer shorts, leaned over and plunged into Lori Lee. She clawed his
back with her nails, clutched his hips with her knees and bit into
his shoulder.
He rode her hard and fast. She met him
thrust for thrust, lunge for lunge. Giving and taking, they mated
with primitive abandon. He told her how much he wanted her, how
wonderful it was to be inside her, how good loving her felt. She
begged him to give her all of himself, and he did.
Then almost before it had begun, it
ended, the two of them exploding into spasms of release, like a
couple of blazing meteorites crashing to earth. They clung to each
other, their breaths ragged, sweat coating their bodies, and the
aftershocks of pleasure continued rippling through
them.
“Oh, Rick, I...” Her chest rose and
fell rapidly.
He took her face in his hands and
looked deeply into her eyes. “This wasn’t the way I wanted our
first time to be, honey. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t
stop.”
“Don’t blame yourself.” She laid her
hand on his chest and felt the powerful beat of his heart. “This
was as much my fault as yours. I should have stopped you.” Suddenly
she felt naked and vulnerable. She glanced at her panties and jeans
lying on the dirty floor.
Pulling away from her, Rick reached
down, picked up her jeans and panties and then helped her put them
on. He kissed the side of her neck. “Have I screwed things up so
badly that you’ll never forgive me?” He zipped up his own
jeans.
Standing, she slipped her arm around
his waist. “I suppose this was inevitable. We’ve both wondered
about what it would be like if we... Now, we know.”
“Yeah. Now we know.” Now we know that we’re explosive together, that we go wild in
each other’s arms, that nothing has ever been this
good.
“I came here to offer you friendship,”
Lori Lee told him. “I’d like to think we can still be friends, that
you’ll still allow me to help you and Darcie.”
“Is that all you want us to be, Lori
Lee, friends?” he asked.
“What do you want?”
“I want you,
honey. I’ve always wanted you.”
He tried to kiss her, but she pushed
him away. “No, I mean what do you want out of life, for you and
Darcie?”
“You know what I want,” he said. “I
want to be sole owner of Bobo’s business. I want to marry a good
woman and give Darcie the right kind of mother. And someday I’d
like to have a couple of more kids. I want my family to be accepted
here in Tuscumbia, to be part of this town.”
“I’d like to see you get what you want.
I don’t know if people will ever totally accept you. It may take
years for you to prove to them that you’re a changed
man.”
“I’ve got the rest of my
life.”
“I’ll do whatever I can to help you. We
can start by putting what happened tonight behind us
and—”
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” he
asked. “Are you trying to tell me that I might be good enough for a
quickie, but I’m not good enough to marry?”
“No. I...I...”
He closed his eyes momentarily, not
wanting to see the regret in her blue eyes. Then he opened them
again and looked directly at her, his focused stare challenging her
as surely as his words did. “Do you honestly think that this one
time got all the lust out of our systems? Don’t you know we’re
going to want to have sex again and again and again?”
“There’s no future for us as anything
except friends. That’s all I can offer you.”
Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her
soundly. “Dammit, woman, don’t do this to us!”
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she
blinked them away. “What happened between us tonight was sex,
wasn’t it? You just said so. It had nothing to do with love or
marriage or forever after. Please, try to understand—”
He flung her away from him. She
staggered, almost falling. Standing there with tears clouding her
vision and her body trembling, she wished she had the courage to be
completely honest with him.
“I understand all right,” he said. “The
apology and the offer of friendship were just excuses, weren’t
they? You came here wanting to get laid.” She gasped. He laughed
mockingly. “Well, you got what you came for, you can leave now.
I’ve got work to do.”
“Rick, please don’t act this way.
Don’t—”
“Get out!” he demanded, then turned his
back on her and pretended to inspect the tools laid out on the
floor at his feet.
Quivering from head to toe, her stomach
twisted into knots and her weak legs uncooperative, Lori Lee lifted
one foot and then the other, forcing herself to walk out of the
garage. The moment she opened her car and slid inside, she gripped
the steering wheel, lowered her head and cried. Her body shook with
sobs as she released the pain and disillusionment in her
heart.
What had she expected from a man like
Rick Warrick? She was such a fool. She had played with fire and
gotten badly burned. From now on, she’d be more
careful.