Five
“I think it’s
absolutely sinful for one woman to get so many flowers on
Valentine’s day.” Deanie Webber flitted from arrangement to
arrangement, sniffing the roses like a bee collecting pollen. “Five
dozen roses! Three dozen red and two dozen pink.”
“I thought you stayed after the
twirlers’ party to help me clean up.” Lori Lee gathered up red
paper plates, napkins and cups scattered around the
studio.
“I did. See. I’m working.” Deanie swept
cupcake crumbs from the floor into a dustpan. “Tell me, how does it
feel to be the most popular single woman in
Tuscumbia?”
“At the moment I feel tired. Between
preparing for this Valentine’s party and getting the girls ready to
go to Clanton this weekend, I’m exhausted.”
Deanie glanced at her daughter, Katie,
and at Darcie Warrick. Both girls sat on the sofa, nibbling candy
hearts and comparing Valentine cards they’d received at school
today and during the Dixie Twirlers party.
Deanie swept her way over to the
wastebasket where Lori Lee was dumping the trash. “I couldn’t help
but notice that Rick didn’t send you any flowers.”
“Why should Rick send me
flowers?”
“Because he’s one of your many
admirers, isn’t he?”
“I don’t know how Rick thinks of me,”
Lori Lee lied. “I’d like to be his friend, but—”
“His friend?” Deanie rolled her eyes
heavenward. “If I were you, I’d want to be more than just friends
with him. At the very least, I’d want to be lovers.”
“Deanie, will you hush. Little ears
hear everything.” Lori Lee nodded toward Katie and
Darcie.
“They’re not paying any attention to
us, so don’t try to change the subject.”
“I have no relationship with Rick. Not
now, nor will I have one in the future. He may have changed in a
lot of ways, but he’s still the type who reaches out and grabs what
he wants when he wants it, and—” she lowered her voice to a whisper
“—to hell with the consequences.”
Manacling Lori Lee’s wrist, Deanie
pulled her friend to her side. “Something happened between you two,
didn’t it?”
A pale pink flush covered Lori Lee’s
cheeks. “Let’s just say that Rick Warrick is still a little too
crude and roughedged for me.” She jerked her wrist out of Deanie’s
grasp. “Keep an eye on things for me for a few minutes. I’ve got to
take out the trash.”
Lori Lee lifted the plastic bag liner
from the wastebasket, pulled the drawstrings and carried it through
the storage room and into the alley. She dumped the bag into the
garbage bin, then leaned against the brick wall.
The tingling heat of remembrance
consumed her, taking her mind and body back to those stolen moments
with Rick. Unless he had told someone, only the two of them knew
about what had happened at the garage four nights ago. She
fervently wished she could forget, but she couldn’t. For as long as
she lived, she would remember her wild, animalistic coupling with
Rick. She’d never known desire so strong, need so powerful, hunger
so overwhelming.
Even if Rick told someone, they
wouldn’t believe him. Everyone knew that Lori Lee Guy was a lady,
and by today’s standards, a rather old-fashioned lady. People said
she was beautiful, talented and intelligent. Men didn’t just date
her—they courted her. She’d been told, by more than one admirer,
that she was the type of woman a man put up on a pedestal and
worshiped.
Rick Warrick hadn’t courted her, hadn’t
set her on a pedestal and worshiped her. He had taken her with
savage abandon, releasing the untamed part of her that no other man
had ever touched. For her, their coupling had been an
earth-shattering experience, but she suspected that for him it had
been nothing more than one more in a long line of
conquests.
Lori Lee couldn’t deny the sexual
attraction she felt for Rick. But people couldn’t build a future
together on nothing but sex. She wanted and needed certain things
in her life, the things that had always been important to her. She
had a place in the social structure, here in Tuscumbia. She was a
member of the church where her family had attended services for
generations. She belonged to the same clubs that her mother and
grandmother had. She dated welleducated, wealthy men who shared her
interests. If and when she committed herself to a second marriage,
she would fall in love with one of her own kind, a man to whom
marriage would mean a lifetime commitment.
A frigid evening wind tousled her hair.
Shivering, Lori Lee rubbed her hands together, then rushed into the
storage room. The sound of girlish giggles drifted on the air. The
party had ended twenty minutes ago, but Rick hadn’t picked up his
daughter. Had he overslept again?
She hadn’t seen him since the night
they’d made love—if you could call what they’d done together making
love. And she didn’t want to see him again. She wasn’t ready to
face him after what had happened.
Dear God, she’d been a fool to give
herself to him the way she had. How many other women had been
seduced by his raw, compelling masculinity? Even if other barriers
didn’t stand between them, Rick’s womanizing ways
would.
Just as she’d done every day since
their last encounter, Lori Lee mentally listed all the reasons she
and Rick could never make a relationship work. They were from
different worlds, with different backgrounds and different friends.
Her social set would never accept him. He was a ladies’ man, with
an earthy sex appeal that drew women to him like moths to a flame.
He probably hadn’t ever been faithful to a woman in his life. How
could she believe he’d be faithful to her?
If Lori Lee were truly honest with
herself, she’d have to admit that she really didn’t care what
anyone thought about Rick. She was no longer a teenage girl,
restrained by society’s rules and afraid to take a chance on loving
the town bad boy. She was a woman now, a woman not concerned with
Rick Warrick’s social standing, but a woman worried about being
hurt again, of having the man she loved be unfaithful to
her.
But the biggest barrier between
them—between her and any man who wanted children—was her
infertility. If and when Rick remarried, he wanted more children.
She couldn’t have a child of her own, and she suspected a macho guy
like Rick wouldn’t want to raise kids that weren’t
his.
“Hey, Lori Lee,” Deanie called out from
the studio. “I’ve got to run. Want me to take Darcie
home?”
“No, that’s okay.” Lori Lee plastered a
phony smile on her face and walked into the studio. “If Rick
doesn’t show up in a few minutes, I’ll drop Darcie by Eve’s on my
way home.”
“You won’t have to do that,” Darcie
said, peering out the glass door. “I see Daddy’s truck. He’s just
pulling into a parking place out front.”
“Don’t forget to ask him if you can
spend the night with me sometime soon,” Katie said.
Lori Lee held Darcie’s jacket while the
child slipped her arms into the sleeves. “I’ll ask him,” Darcie
promised, then looked up at Lori Lee. “I told my daddy that I want
him to go to Clanton with us Saturday for the competition, and he’s
promised me he’ll go.”
“That’s wonderful, Darcie.” Lori Lee
zipped up the little girl’s jacket and lifted the attached hood
over her head. “He’s going to be so proud of you when he sees you
perform.”
Rick held the door open for Deanie and
her daughter with one hand, while clutching a single yellow rose
behind his back. Deanie smiled and spoke. Lori Lee’s best friend
was always cordial and friendly. He wished the other members of her
social circle were half as nice.
He’d thought about asking Eve to pick
up Darcie today, but decided he couldn’t put off facing Lori Lee
any longer. Four nights ago, she had left the garage angry and
hurt. He had handled the situation all wrong. God, he’d been an
idiot to take her the way he had. Lori Lee was no good-time girl.
She was a lady. An angel. A dream. And he was as unworthy of her as
a man could be.
He had wanted her for such a long time.
And when she’d finally given herself to him, what had he done? He’d
taken her with all the finesse of a rutting bull! She had told him
that what had happened between them had nothing to do with love or
marriage or forever after. Maybe she was right. Hell, he didn’t
know. Maybe it had been lust and nothing more. He’d never truly
loved a woman, and wasn’t sure what to call the way he felt about
Lori Lee. Lust? Definitely. Obsession? Maybe. But love? He didn’t
know.
What he did know was that, after
thinking things over, he’d decided the one thing he knew he
did want from Lori Lee Guy was friendship.
If her offer to help Darcie was sincere, he’d be crazy to refuse.
Despite his feelings for Lori Lee—whatever they were—his main
concern had to be his child. If he didn’t take care of her, give
her a good life, then he would have failed at what mattered most to
him.
He didn’t want his little girl ever to
suffer the way he had. He’d always been on the outside looking in.
It wasn’t going to be that way for Darcie!
And if he had a prayer of building any
kind of relationship with Lori Lee, he’d have to change his
tactics. Whether the end result would be a friendship or a love
affair, only time would tell. But he had to go about this slow and
easy. Instead of taking what he wanted from her, he had to wait
until she was willing to give. So willing that there would be no
regrets later.
Rick closed the door behind him,
shutting out the cold February evening. He glanced across the room
to where Lori Lee was tying the strings on Darcie’s hood into a
bow. He closed his eyes at the sight of the beautiful golden woman
and the child who was her very image.
Before returning to Tuscumbia, he had
marveled at his daughter’s resemblance to Lori Lee. But since it
had been so many years since he’d seen Lori Lee, he thought he
might have imagined how much Darcie looked like her. But seeing the
two together was a true revelation.
April had been a blue-eyed blonde. He’d
been attracted to her because she reminded him of Lori Lee. But for
some odd reason, Darcie looked more like Lori Lee than she did her
own mother. Or maybe he saw only what he wanted to
see.
Lori Lee Guy represented everything
Rick had ever wanted. If Darcie could be like Lori Lee, then it was
reasonable to assume she could live Lori Lee’s storybook
life.
“Daddy!” Darcie ran to her father and
grabbed his hand. “Come say hello to Lori Lee. I’ve been telling
her that you can go with us to Clanton this Saturday.”
Rick glanced hesitantly at Lori Lee
while he held Darcie’s hand and kept the single rose hidden behind
his back.
“Hello, Rick.”
Seeing him again was more difficult
than she’d thought it would be. He was so incredibly, tantalizingly
male. Her nipples tightened; her body moistened. He’d been right
when he said having sex once wouldn’t be enough for either of
them.
Rick knew it wasn’t going to be easy
seeing Lori Lee again. He just hadn’t realized it would be this
difficult. Why did she have to be so damn beautiful? Just looking
at her turned him on. She was the stuff of male fantasies. Large
breasts, long legs, sultry lips and a mane of blond curls. Her red
leather, calf-length skirt had a side slit that revealed one
shapely thigh. A soft, beige cashmere sweater hugged her lush
figure and a gold locket rested between her breasts.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “I had an
errand to run that took longer than I expected.” At the last
minute, he’d decided to stop by the florist shop and get a rose for
Lori Lee—a combination peace offering and Valentine gift. He wished
that he could have bought her a dozen, but they were too expensive,
so he’d bought the one yellow rose. Yellow roses always reminded
him of Lori Lee—all sunshine, bright and golden as
springtime.
“No problem.” Lori Lee had thought she
could see Rick again without succumbing to his potent charisma.
She’d been wrong. Just looking at him made her want him. It wasn’t
just one thing that made him so irresistible, but a combination.
His big, hard body. His devilish smile. His penetrating brown eyes.
His lips. His hands. His—“Uh, er, I’m glad you’ll get to go to
Clanton with us, especially since this will be Darcie’s first
competition. I’m amazed at how quickly she learns. She seems to
have a natural talent for performing.” .
“I’m looking forward to going,” he
said.
“Good.” Think of something to say, she
told herself. Don’t just stand here acting like a fool. “Uh, would
you like a cupcake and some punch? There’s plenty left over from
the party.”
“No, thanks.” He glanced around the
studio, noticing how Lori Lee had decorated for Valentine’s Day.
Big red hearts and cupids covered the walls, along with a variety
of Valentine cards. Red and white streamers hung from the ceiling.
And dozens of red and pink roses decorated Lori Lee’s desk as well
as the coffee and end tables.
“Isn’t everything pretty?” Darcie said.
“Lori Lee makes everything fun.” She tugged on her father’s hand.
“Come look at the beautiful flowers all of Lori Lee’s boyfriends
sent her. Katie’s mommy said that Lori Lee’s the most popular girl
in Tuscumbia.”
“Yeah, she always was,” Rick
said.
So the roses were from Lori Lee’s many
admirers, huh? The guys she dated could afford to send her flowers
by the dozens. If he gave her his one puny little rose, she’d
probably laugh in his face. Who was he kidding, thinking he could
compete with men like Powell Goodman and Jimmy Davison? They could
offer her everything. What could he offer her? Nothing but himself
and another woman’s child. Why on earth would she want
either?
“We’ve got to go, sweetie,” Rick told
Darcie. “I’m taking my best girl to McDonald’s for hamburgers.
Remember?”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Darcie said,
then looked at Lori Lee. “I wish you could go with us, but I
suppose you’ve already got a date.”
Rick opened his mouth to speak, to
somehow find a way to take back his daughter’s invitation, but Lori
Lee responded first. “Yes, I do have a date. Mr. Davison and I have
reservations at Dale’s for dinner.”
“Good night, then,” Rick said. “We’ll
meet you here Saturday morning bright and early.”
Lori Lee watched Rick and Darcie as
they left the studio. Just before helping his daughter up into the
truck, Rick dropped something on the ground. With her heart
thumping loudly in her ears, Lori Lee hurried across the room and
looked out the front door. There on the sidewalk in front of Rick’s
battered pickup truck lay a single yellow rose. She waited until he
pulled out of the parking place and drove off up Main Street, then
she rushed outside and picked up the flower. Clutching it to her
breast, she walked slowly back toward the studio. Standing under
the awning, she lifted the rose to her lips and stood there
watching as the red taillights of Rick’s truck disappeared in the
darkness.
She had never expected Rick to do
something as sentimental and romantic as bring her a single rose
for Valentine’s Day. Somehow, it didn’t fit the image she had of
the former bad boy.
Her studio was filled with dozens of
perfect red and pink roses, all gifts from men who could easily
afford them, men whose secretaries had no doubt ordered
them.
Rick Warrick had brought her a single
yellow rose—her favorite flower. How had he known?
And why, oh, why, did his gesture mean
so much to her if the man meant nothing?
Cursing under his breath, Rick slammed
the truck’s hood, then kicked the front tire. Damned worthless
piece of garbage. If he could afford a decent vehicle, he wouldn’t
be in this situation.
Darcie rolled down the window, stuck
her head out and asked, “What’s the matter, Daddy?”
“Looks like I’m stuck here, sweetie.”
Rick tried to calm the anger in his voice. “The radiator has sprung
a leak. It’ll take about three hours for me to take it off, get it
repaired and put it back on. I’m sorry, Darcie, but you’ll have to
ride with Lori Lee. I’ll drive down later.”
Lori Lee had just told the caravan of
parents and Dixie Twirlers to head on out, that she would follow
them shortly. On these trips, they tried to travel as a group, in
case anyone had car trouble.
“What’s the problem?” Lori Lee asked
Rick as she pulled her car to a stop beside the truck.
“Daddy’s radiator’s got a leak and he
says I should ride with you,” Darcie said.
“I hope you don’t mind taking her with
you.” Rick opened the truck door and lifted Darcie down onto the
sidewalk. “I’ll get her stuff.”
“I don’t mind taking her.” Lori Lee
adored Darcie, and that was the problem. Several of the twirler
mothers had mentioned how attached Lori Lee was to the child, and
Mara Royce had even accused her of playing favorites. Despite the
circumstances, her allowing Darcie to ride to Clanton with her was
bound to create some jealous feelings.
“I should be able to get the truck
fixed and be on the road behind y’all in a couple of hours at
most.” Rick ruffled Darcie’s long, blond curls. “I can’t miss my
best girl’s first performance, can I?”
“If you don’t mind leaving the truck
here, you’re welcome to ride with me, too. That way, you won’t miss
anything.” The moment she issued the invitation, Lori Lee wished
she could take it back. Dear Lord, if some of the parents would
object to her chauffeuring Darcie to and from Clanton, what would
they say about Rick riding with her?
“Yes, Daddy. Please. Leave your truck.
You can fix it tomorrow.” Darcie looked up at her father pleadingly
and he knew he could refuse her nothing.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” he
asked.
Lori Lee pushed the automatic release
button and opened her trunk. “Put Darcie’s things in the trunk and
hurry. We need to get going.”
Rick’s gut instincts warned him that he
was making a mistake, but what the hell. It wasn’t every day he and
Darcie would get to spend several hours alone with Lori Lee. He
wasn’t sure who was happier at the prospect, he or his
daughter.
During the competition, Rick felt
uncomfortable sitting with the other parents. Several had made it
perfectly clear he was an unwelcome intrusion. Everyone else simply
ignored him, everyone except Deanie Webber and her husband, Phil,
who not only spoke to him but invited him to sit with
them.
One twirler mother, a divorcée whose
name he couldn’t remember, kept flirting with him, and when he
continued to ignore her, she’d moved over and sat by him. More than
once, he overheard Mara Royce make comments about the fact he and
Darcie had ridden to Clanton with Lori Lee, and wondered if
something was going on there, or if not, then was he fooling around
with Sherry’s mother.
Finally Deanie Webber took pity on him
and came to his rescue when she overheard the flirtatious brunette
at his side proposition him. She not only got rid of his unwanted
admirer, she gave Mara Royce something else to think about besides
Lori Lee and him.
“Hon, Mara needs to speak to you,”
Deanie told the woman. “She wants your opinion on a routine she
plans to suggest to Lori Lee. Of course, I said your little Sherry
should have the lead part, but she wants Steffie—”
“Catch you later, handsome,” Sherry’s
mother said as she jumped up and made her way up the
bleachers.
“Thanks,” Rick said. “I thought she was
going to crawl in my lap any minute now.”
Deanie laughed. Rick liked the way she
laughed. Fullbodied and genuine. “Someone should have warned you
about Bitsy. And as for these other yokels, don’t let them bother
you. Given time, most of the folks will come around. They just
don’t know quite what to think of you.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. A lot of
them remember me from school, and the others have heard about my
hoodlum days.”
“I think you should know that Mara
Royce is none too happy that Lori Lee is so taken with Darcie.”
Deanie placed her hand on Rick’s arm. “Darcie is a beautiful child,
and very talented. But Mara doesn’t see it that way. She’s going to
assume that Darcie’s being given special treatment for some
personal reason.”
“Are you saying that Mrs. Royce can
cause trouble for Lori Lee?” Rick asked.
“Mara thinks her Steffie should be the
center of the world, and anything or anyone that gets in the way of
that is in danger from Mara.”
“She sounds like a real bitch to me,
and her kid has to be a spoiled brat.”
“Right on both counts,” Deanie said.
“But don’t be surprised at anything Mara says or
does.”
“Yeah. Thanks for letting me know who
my enemies are.”
When the competition ended, the Dixie
Twirlers had captured first place in several events, including
Twinkle Toe’s Halftime Show Dance Line. All the girls were giddy
with success; most parents were proud and happy.
While Lori Lee gave the girls an
after-competition pep talk inside the gym, the parents loaded all
the twirlers’ paraphernalia into their vehicles. A light cold
drizzle had begun falling, and the night air was
frigid.
Just as Rick opened Lori Lee’s trunk,
he heard someone approach him. Turning around, he saw Dr. Eugene
Royce, a bald, heavyset, fortyish man staring at him.
. “Yeah?” Rick noticed Mara Royce
standing several yards away, watching her husband.
“I, er, that is, we thought someone
should speak to you about Lori Lee.” Eugene cleared his throat.
“We’re very fond of her. Think the world of her. She’s a fine
woman.”
“I agree.” Rick placed the twirler
equipment in the trunk and closed the lid.
“I’m glad you know the kind of person
Lori Lee is,” Eugene said. “I’m sure you didn’t intend to, er, that
is...we don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
“The wrong idea about what?” Rick
asked, towering over Eugene a good five inches. “The wrong idea
about Lori Lee? Or the wrong idea about why you’re trying to warn
me to stay away from her?”
“We’re not warning you, just advising
you.” Gazing into Rick’s eyes, Eugene took a step backward. “Surely
you realize how unsuitable you are for Lori Lee. She’s not your
kind.”
“And what is my kind?”
“Well, someone, er, that is, someone
less—”
Rick stepped forward, glowering at the
other man. “Tell your wife that there is absolutely nothing going
on between Lori Lee Guy and me. Ms. Guy has been kind to me and my
daughter, out of the goodness of her heart.” Rick grabbed Eugene’s
shoulder, clutching tightly. “And if anyone starts spreading any
lies about Ms. Guy, I won’t like sit.”
Forty-six girls, ranging in age from
three to fourteen, raced out of the gymnasium, squealing when they
felt the icy sleet peppering down on them.
Deanie Webber rushed toward Lori Lee.
“Get over there, quick.” She pointed toward the parking lot where
Rick stood gripping Eugene Royce’s shoulder. “I don’t know what’s
going on, but Rick looks awfully upset, and Mara is standing over
there glaring a hole in him.”
“Oh, damn!” Lori Lee said. “Keep Darcie
with you and Phil until I find out what’s going on.”
Lori Lee ran over to her car, halting
at Rick’s side. “Hey, we’d better get going before the roads ice
over. We’ve got a three-hour drive ahead of us.”
Rick gave Eugene’s shoulder a hard
squeeze. “Glad we had this little talk, Dr. Royce. Just remember
what I told you.” Releasing the other man’s shoulder, Rick turned
to Lori Lee. “Where’s Darcie?”
Eugene scurried off toward his wife,
whose sharp, angry voice was masked by the sound of clinking sleet
hitting the parking lot pavement.
“She’s with Deanie,” Lori Lee said.
“What was going on here? You looked like you wanted to hit
Eugene.”
“If I thought that bitch of a wife of
his would feel the blow, I’d have hit him.” Rick snorted. “She sent
him over here honestly thinking he would intimidate
me.”
Grinning, Lori Lee lifted the hood of
her coat over her head. “Eugene is a wealthy, respected
orthodontist and he and Mara are social royalty around here. There
are a lot of people who are very intimidated by Eugene and Mara’s
social standing.”
Seeing the humor in the situation, Rick
laughed, then grabbed Lori Lee by the arm. “You get in the car,
honey, out of this sleet. I’ll go get Darcie.” He unlocked the car
with the remote, then opened the door and assisted Lori Lee inside.
“How about letting me drive home? I’m sure you’re a good driver,
but with the weather like it is, I’d—”
“You drive,” she told him. “Now, get
Darcie and let’s head for the Shoals.”
By the time they were a few miles
outside of Birmingham, Lori Lee realized they were dealing with
more than a little rain mixed with sleet. Trees and power lines
were icing over and the highway was getting slick. The radio
stations announced that an unexpected winter storm had hit North
Alabama. Interstate 65 was closed north of Cullman and most state
highways were impassable.
Deanie called Lori Lee from her
cellular phone and they discussed the situation, agreeing that the
Dixie Twirlers and their parents would have no choice but to spend
the night in Cullman.
Unfortunately the twirlers from the
Shoals area weren’t the only stranded travelers seeking refuge. As
they drove from motel to motel, the twirlers’ caravan began to
split up, taking rooms wherever they could find them. When Rick
asked at the front desk of the Comfort Lodge, he was told they had
one room left, so, without consulting Lori Lee, he handed the desk
clerk his credit card and registered them as Mr. and Mrs.
Warrick.
When he returned to the car, he found
Darcie asleep in Lori Lee’s lap, her little head resting on Lori
Lee’s breast.
He opened the passenger door and said,
“I got us a room.” He lifted Darcie into his arms. She roused
briefly, smiled at her father, then curled up against his
chest.
While they walked down the motel
corridor, Rick noticed Lori Lee glancing at the single key he held
in his hand.
“They just had one room left,” he told
her. “I figured we’d better take it. I know it’ll be kind of
awkward, but it’s the best I could do.”
“None of the other twirler parents are
staying here, so no one will know,” she said.
“Yeah, no one will know.”
He unlocked the door to their room,
flipped on the light switch and carried Darcie over to the nearest
double bed. Lori Lee rushed ahead of him and turned down the
covers. When he laid Darcie down, Lori Lee sat on the bed beside
her and removed the child’s shoes and jacket.
“She’s worn out.” Lori Lee pulled the
sheet and blanket over the child, then caressed her plump, rosy
cheek. “I was so proud of her today. She did the routine perfectly.
Better than some of the girls who’ve had much more
practice.”
Darcie’s eyelids fluttered. She opened
her eyes and looked up at the two adults hovering over her. “Hi,
Daddy. Hi, Lori Lee.”
“Hello, sweetheart.” Lori Lee playfully
flipped the end of Darcie’s nose with her index
finger.
“Did Daddy get us a room?”
“He certainly did.”
Darcie yawned. “I’m
hungry.”
“I noticed some vending machines down
the hall,” Rick said. “You ladies get comfortable and I’ll go see
what I can round up for us.”
“Look in my purse and get some money,”
Lori Lee said. “I think I’ve got plenty of quarters and dollar
bills.”
“If I need your money, I’ll come back
and get it.” Rick opened the door. “Lock up until I get
back.”
After securing the door, Lori Lee
removed her coat and hung it on a rack in the closet. If anyone had
told her when she left Tuscumbia this morning that she’d be
spending the night in a Cullman motel with Rick Warrick, she’d have
told them they were crazy.
Well, crazy or not, here she was. Of
course, there was no way anyone could find out that she had shared
a room with Rick, and besides, the two of them were hardly alone.
Darcie was their chaperone.
She glanced at Rick’s daughter, who had
closed her eyes and fallen back to sleep. Lori Lee smiled, her
heart warmed by Darcie’s sweet presence.
Ten minutes later, Lori Lee opened the
door when Rick knocked. He balanced two cups of coffee, a carton of
milk and three sandwiches in his hands. Packs of cookies and
assorted pastries stuck out of his jacket pockets.
“Shh...” Lori Lee removed the
sandwiches from the top of the drinks. “She went back to sleep
almost immediately.”
“Today was a big day for her,” he said.
“She was so excited, she didn’t sleep hardly any last night and she
got me up before daylight this morning.”
“She may wake up later starving to
death.” Lori Lee placed the sandwiches on the dresser, then reached
out and took the cups, one at a time, and set them
down.
Rick emptied his pockets, then removed
his coat, tossing it on the lone chair in the room. “I hope you can
drink your coffee black. I couldn’t find any sweetener or creamer.
If you want, you can use some of Darcie’s milk.”
“Black will be fine.” She removed the
lid from one of the foam cups, sat on the edge of the bed and
sipped the coffee.
Lori Lee and Rick ate their sandwiches
in relative silence, each occasionally glancing over at Darcie. The
child had curled into a fetal position, with her body facing the
wall.
Lori Lee picked up their trash and
threw it into the wastebasket, then excused herself. While she was
gone, Rick removed his shoes and unbuttoned his shirt. He supposed
he had no choice but to sleep in his clothes. Of course, he doubted
he’d get much sleep. Not with Lori Lee lying in the bed next to
his.
She emerged from the bathroom, her face
scrubbed clean of makeup and her hair brushed free and hanging in
soft waves down her back.
“I’ll sleep with Darcie,” she offered.
“As big as you are, you might be more comfortable in a bed by
yourself.”
“Thanks.” He surveyed Lori Lee from
head to toe, sizing up every curvaceous inch of her lush body. If
his daughter wasn’t asleep in the room with them—Dammit, man, don’t even think it! Get your mind on something
else. You’ll spend the whole night hard and hurting if you let
yourself think about making love to Lori Lee
again.
He watched her take off her shoes and
crawl under the blanket beside Darcie. After removing his boots, he
turned down the covers on the other bed, got in and flipped off the
table lamp. He lay there unmoving for a while, trying to think of
anything except Lori Lee.
After mulling over repairing his truck,
figuring out how much money he’d have to borrow to buy out Bobo’s
part of the business and wondering what kind of season the Braves
would have that year, Rick could still hear Lori Lee tossing and
turning. Was she having as difficult a time as he was going to
sleep? Was she lying over there doing her damnedest not to think
about him? Was she remembering what it had been like when they’d
made love?
His sex grew hard and heavy. He groaned
silently, cursing himself for a fool. Maybe he should put on his
coat and boots and run around outside in the sleet until he cooled
off. He tossed back the covers, sat up and threw his legs over the
side of the bed, facing the window. Spearing his fingers through
his hair, he scratched his head and stood.
“Rick?” Lori Lee whispered his
name.
“Sorry I disturbed you,” he said
softly. “I can’t sleep. Thought I’d get up for a
while.”
Drawing back the curtains, he stared
out at the empty swimming pool, the edge of the crowded parking
area and then up at the black night sky. In the stillness, he
listened to the howling wind and the frigid sleet as it hit the icy
ground.
He heard the other bed creak and knew
Lori Lee was getting up. He stood by the window. Unmoving. Holding
his breath. She walked up behind him and laid her hand on his back.
He sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
“I can’t sleep, either,” she said, then
rested her forehead on his shoulder.
Rick eased his arm around her, drawing
her close to his side. “You know what I want, don’t
you?”
“Yes.” She melted against him as she
put her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. “I
was a fool to offer you my friendship when we both want...” She
lifted her head and looked up in the darkness, barely able to see
his strong, chiseled features. “After tonight, we have to stay away
from each other.”
“Don’t ask me to stay away from you,”
he said. She was asking him to make the ultimate sacrifice, to give
her up when he knew she was his for the taking.
“I’ll do everything I can to help
Darcie. I promise. She’s become very special to me.
I—I—”
Rick kissed her forehead. She shivered.
Caressing her through her slacks, he cupped her hip in his big
hand. “What are you so afraid of?” he asked. “I know I’m not good
enough for you, that a woman like you would never marry a man like
me. But I’m not asking you to marry me, am I? What would be so
wrong with the two of us having an affair? We could be discreet. We
could find a way to keep it a secret.”
She clung to him, tempted by what he
was offering, but she knew, even if he didn’t, that she simply
wasn’t the type to have an illicit affair. She didn’t have the
courage to openly date Rick, despite how desperately she wanted
him. She could not take the chance of getting her heart broken and
her reputation ruined for a man who wanted only an
affair.
“I can’t become your lover,” she said.
“I can’t risk everything for a few stolen moments here and
there.”
“I’d ask you to marry me if I thought—”
He took her face in his hands and forced her mouth against his,
kissing her possessively. Breaking the kiss, he breathed deeply,
gulping in air. “Forget I said that. Why would you marry me, a
blue-collar guy with grease under his fingernails and a ready-made
family, when you could marry Powell Goodman and have everything
money can buy and kids of your own?”
Fighting her body’s need to cling to
Rick, to wrap around him and find release, Lori Lee somehow managed
to stay sane and rational. “If and when I marry again, I’ll love my
husband deeply and completely and he’ll love me the same
way.”
“Yeah, you’d want love, wouldn’t
you?”
“Yes, I want love. Don’t
you?”
“I’d settle for less,” he admitted. “If
I could find a good, decent woman who wanted to be Darcie’s mother,
I’d marry her, if the chemistry between us was right.”
“You’d want sex whether or not there
was any love involved.” She had known Rick was a virile man, a man
who wanted and needed sex on a regular basis. He wanted her right
now, and if Darcie wasn’t in the room with them, he would take her
to bed and make love to her all night.
And she’d let him.
And he knew it.
“I’d better go back to bed,” she
said.
He rubbed himself intimately against
her, letting her feel his arousal. Closing her eyes, she sighed and
gave herself over to one more kiss, a kiss that soon raged out of
control. With their bodies glued together, their mouths devouring,
their hands groping, Rick walked Lori Lee backward until her legs
brushed the edge of the bed. He shoved her onto the bed, then came
down on top of her.
He nestled himself between her legs,
longing to strip away her clothing and bury himself deep inside
her.
“Rick? Rick, we can’t do this,” she
whispered breathlessly.
“I know, dammit!” He jumped up off her,
felt around on the floor for his boots and slipped into them. “I’m
going for a walk. Lock the door and go to sleep.”
Lori Lee sat on the edge of the bed.
“You can’t go out in weather like this.”
“I’ll walk around in the hall for a
while and then sleep in the lobby.”
She started to protest, but realized he
was doing what was best for both of them. If he stayed here,
neither of them would get any sleep unless they made love. And they
couldn’t have sex with Rick’s daughter asleep in the room with
them.
“When we get home, we can’t—” she
said.
“Don’t worry, honey. I’ll leave you
alone. I won’t have any trouble finding myself a more willing
woman.” He grabbed his coat, opened the door and left.
Lori Lee closed and locked the door,
then went into the bathroom and had herself a nice long cry. Get it
out of your system now, she told herself. Rick Warrick is still the
same heartbreaker he always was. He wants you, but if he can’t have
you, he’ll just get himself another woman. That’s exactly what he’d
done fifteen years ago, and that’s still what he’d do. You were
nothing more to him than any other willing woman back then, and
that’s all you are to him now. Nothing between them had changed.
Beneath his reformed facade, Rick was still bad to the
bone.