Dear Love Doctor (16 page)

Hunter lifted his head and she saw through the haze of her satisfaction that he was looking quite pleased with himself.

And then he was moving over her and into her and Daffy forgot everything she’d ever known or ever experienced. Forgot they lay on the floor midst the scattered towels, forgot she’d vowed not to give in to his pursuit of her, forgot she’d ever said she’d never let herself need any man.

Hunter caught his breath and Daffy felt him slow his possessive movements. He pulled out of her and jumped up, grabbed his overnight bag, and said, “I knew if any woman could make me forget myself, it would be you.”

Daffy smiled and remained on the floor, her body open and waiting for Hunter’s return. He found the packet he sought, tore it open, tugged the condom on his beautifully aroused manhood, and in one swoop, bent down and caught her up.

He lowered her to the massive bed and said, “Now you’re mine.”

Daffy didn’t know what felt better: his possessive words or the slow way he reentered her body, exploring, withdrawing, then plunging inward until she cried out yet again in ecstasy.

Crying and laughing, she held tight as Hunter at last found the release he sought, deep within her body, deep within her soul.

Hunter came back to his senses slowly, drifting like a leaf in a torpid September breeze. He’d shifted his weight off Daffy and the two of them curled side by side, still on top of the covers of the king-size bed. He’d wrapped the condom in a tissue from the bedside table and tossed it in the general direction of the wastebasket. Thank God he’d remembered himself at the last minute.

Glancing up, he mused how ironic it was he hadn’t thought once about the mirrored ceiling, one of his favorite features of Caesar’s more adult-oriented rooms. No. His every thought had been possession of Daffy and splendid release within her entrancing body.

She stirred and he fitted her more closely against his chest. He liked looking up and seeing the reflection of the two of them, naked and cuddled close. Funny, but he’d never been much for hugging. He liked his sex hot and heavy and passionate, after which he liked to move on, back to the business of life. At the moment, however, he didn’t feel like scooting one inch away from Daffodil Landry.

He frowned.

“Don’t,” Daffy said, reaching back to smooth his brow.

“It’s not really a frown,” he said.

“Good.” She wriggled her derriere against him and pointed a finger toward the ceiling. “The mirror tells all, you know.”

“Ah, you noticed it.”

She smiled and he could have sworn she also blushed slightly.

“Something else you’ve never done before?” Hunter let one hand roam over her breasts and found her nipples budded, tight, amazingly ready for more.

“Not exactly,” she said.

“What does that mean?” He trailed one finger lightly down the side of her hip; the other was busy exploring her breast.

“It means I’ve never made love beneath a mirror before, but I’m embarrassed to admit to such inexperience,” she said.

“Don’t be.” Hunter turned them so they lay face-to-face. He kissed the tip of her nose. “Call it the cave man in me, but I’m glad I’m your first.”

“First?”

He grinned and slipped lower on the bed. “Watch the mirror and see how it feels.”

“How what feels?” Her voice had gone all breathy.

Hunter lifted one slender ankle and, watching her reaction, suckled her big toe.

She squirmed and cried out, half laughing, half panting.

“You like that?”

“Yes,” Daffy whispered, her eyes on the ceiling.

“You make a beautiful picture,” Hunter said, acknowledging the view she had of them reflected above.

“You amaze me,” she said.

He bowed his head and lowered her foot, then worked his way up until he reached her inner thighs. “Keep watching,” he said, and tasted her again. She was wet and hot and swollen from their lovemaking. He licked her gently and wasn’t at all surprised when she came almost at once.

She clung to him, then said, “That mirror is very naughty.”

He grinned. “Want to finish that bath now?”

She nodded, but didn’t move. Hunter was about to rise and help her off the bed when she said, “Would you mind if I did one other thing I’ve never done before?”

Checking her expression, carefully neutral but given away by the quirk of her lips, Hunter leaned back against the pillows. This was going to be good. “No, not at all.”

She knelt beside him and said, much like a schoolteacher, “Now watch the mirror, and let me know what you think.”

When she took his manhood into her mouth, Hunter groaned. The double impact of Daffy pleasuring him and at the same time watching her in the mirror suspended over the bed almost did him in. He gasped and reached out for a handful of her hair. She turned her face toward him for just a moment, and, minx that she was, she was grinning.

Then he gave himself up to the pleasure she was creating with the magic of her touch, and this time he didn’t have to disturb the delicious sensations to leap up and run for a condom.

16

T
hey fell asleep together and it was the sweetest sleep Daffy had ever known.

When they awoke, Hunter was obviously hungry again for her, but he turned over, grabbed the clock, and said, “Damn. We’ve got to go.”

Daffy snuggled against him. Surely it couldn’t be time to leave this cocoon. “I’m not hungry. For dinner.”

“Plane,” he said, drawing her close and kissing her as if he intended for them to spend the night exactly where they were.

But then he said, “I have a meeting in New Orleans first thing in the morning, so we have to catch our flight.”

Daffy blinked and stretched. “We must have been asleep a long time.”

Hunter stroked her thigh, then said, “Hours and hours. If it were any other meeting, I’d cancel it, but this one I can’t. We have to fly back tonight.”

She smiled and leaned up to kiss him. “That’s okay. I’m a working girl myself, remember?”

He nodded and sat up, brushing a hand across his eyes. “Daffy . . .”

“Yes?”

“I know I said this before, but thank you for coming to Vegas with me.”

She nodded, noting her own reflection once again in the mirror. She’d given herself so completely to him, she had a pretty good idea he meant more than the words he spoke. “Thanks for asking me,” she said, and rose from the bed.

He eyed the tub, then shook his head. “That water’s going to be ice-cold. How about a shower?”

“Okay,” she said. “But we might miss the plane.”

He smiled and said, “I can resist when I have to.”

But she made it as hard as she could for him, dropping the soap and bending over to retrieve it, then sliding the slippery bar up his legs and across his groin. At last he caught her hands and said, “Shower or I’ll bend you over and take you now.”

Blushing, Daffy asked him to pass the shampoo. She’d never wanted a man as much as she wanted Hunter; never felt as free to express her desire. And that freedom made her want to open up in a way she found exhilarating.

But it was time to head for home.

Back to reality.

As they dried, then dressed, then rushed to pack their belongings, Daffy couldn’t help but wonder if the magic they had found would survive their return to everyday life.

But she promised herself, standing next to Hunter as they waited for the limousine to collect them for the ride to the airport, that she would do her best to achieve that goal.

Three days later, Daffy was beginning to wonder whether she’d dreamed the whole thing up. They’d returned on the red-eye Sunday evening, Hunter had dropped her at her house, kissed her good night, and disappeared.

Now, loitering outside the Gretna courthouse, Daffy felt two-times foolish. First, for missing so intensely a man she scarcely knew. And second, for having stood around outside her brother-in-law’s office to spy on his assignation with the sweetly helpless intern—only to have the two of them leave together and head straight to the courthouse.

Well, Daffy, how unusual for a lawyer and a paralegal to go to court.

And, Daffy, how unlike you to mope over some guy not calling you.

Daffy reminded herself not to blame Hunter.

She, too, had been busy, occupied by Jazzfest-related social events that required the presence of her camera. Beginning to be annoyed at the way so many otherwise sensible people behaved once they saw the chance of making the Social Scene column, Daffy was tempted to bequeath the job to someone else and get a real journalism job.

Or become a private investigator, she thought, suppressing the urge to utter a humorless giggle. As she watched David and Nina approach the security checkpoint, David put his arm around the intern. Daffy frowned. For her sister’s sake, she was determined to find out the truth. No man was going to cheat on her sister and get away with it.

Anyway, worrying about Jonni kept her from worrying whether she’d made a fool of herself with Hunter. Though even as she followed the pair, her thoughts were full of him.

Was she simply his latest conquest? Was he even at this moment in some locker room, swapping stories of which chick he’d boffed last weekend? Daffy shuddered at the very idea, but she wasn’t so naive that she didn’t recognize the possibility. Guys would be guys, after all.

But Hunter wasn’t like that. He’d sent her flowers and left her several messages, the latest one saying that he’d had to fly to Salt Lake City for more merger talks.

She sighed, wishing he’d invited her along, but then realized how silly that was. They barely knew each other.

Yet she’d given herself to him. Completely. No holding back.

Had Nina done the same? David had dropped his arm from the woman’s shoulders and now the two walked side by side down the hallway. Daffy moved through the metal detector, considering the situation. Johnnie Cochran had probably been photographed with his arm around O. J. Simpson. Attorneys were allowed to comfort their clients. Nina could be here as a client, not a colleague. A good detective didn’t jump to conclusions.

Thankful for the several niches and doorways along the hall, Daffy kept out of sight. She got close enough to hear David say, “Don’t worry. I’ll do all the talking.”

That, Daffy could believe. It seemed to her that ever since he’d met her sister he’d been their voice, to such an extent that Jonni had become more and more silent.

Still, Jonni said she was happy. So perhaps she didn’t mind David’s high-handed ways.

Daffy slipped from her hiding place and shadowed the two of them down the hall, hoping David wouldn’t turn around and catch her at her Columbo act. If he did, she had a story all prepared. She was en route to pay a ticket. It was a bit of a stretch, because as a dyed-in-the-wool Up-town girl, who thought of the west bank of the Mississippi River as a province in China, Daffy didn’t spend enough time on the other side of the river to get a ticket there, but would David think of that?

Not as long as he was engrossed in little Miss Nina, Daffy thought, watching the way he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She doubted if he looked at all his clients or co-workers like that.

The two of them halted before a door, which David held open. They entered and Daffy approached, noting it appeared to be a courtroom. She hesitated, but her journalistic training stood her in good stead and she sailed on in.

The press, she knew, always belonged.

She pictured the rows of reporters surrounding her at Hunter’s keynote speech and, of course, that image led to Hunter. And, of course, that thought led to their lovemaking.

Only the staccato banging of the gavel brought her up short. She slipped into the first seat she spotted and glanced around her.

David was at one of the tables in the front, Nina beside him. Opposite them sat a stern-faced woman in an ill-fitting navy suit and a bear of a man Daffy disliked on sight. The judge sat behind her raised bench, flipping through sheaths of papers and looking as if she’d rather be on the ninth hole at English Turn than in the stuffy courtroom.

As she glanced around at the clusters of anxious and grim-faced men and women, Daffy wished herself elsewhere. Right now, she’d give more than her eyeteeth to be in Salt Lake City with Hunter James.

Not just having sex.

Making love.

She sighed and circled her ankle, spelling out his name.

The gavel cracked again and she heard someone call the case of West vs. West.

David and his paralegal intern rose, as did Navy Suit and her client. Daffy quit thinking about Hunter and sat at attention.

She had to hand it to her brother-in-law. He outtalked, outcharmed, and outsmarted the other side. Before Daffy could say “Dear Love Doctor,” the judge had ordered Nina’s ex-husband to cough up alimony and child support, and put into effect a restraining order so he couldn’t go anywhere near her.

The gavel slammed again and David whisked Nina toward the door.

Daffy stared after them, impressed despite herself. The other attorney swept her client, who made Daffy think of a summer storm menacing the Gulf, from the courtroom, and Daffy shivered as she caught sight of the look in the man’s eyes.

Bravo for David, she thought. He was doing a good deed, helping a woman in need. Perhaps he was innocent of all the crimes Daffy had already convicted him of. And perhaps it was time for Daffy to make peace with her sister’s choice of spouse.

Just to make sure, she hurried outside and tailed the two of them as they left the courthouse. No by-the-hour motel stops, no lingering afternoon luncheon.

They drove straight back to work, leaving Daffy to return to the contemplation of her own problems.

Hunter paced his hotel room, clutching his phone. He was used to running much of his business and his personal life from his phone, but today it wasn’t serving him well at all.

But He couldn’t locate Daffy.

He wasn’t sure why, but he needed to talk to her. Needed to hear her voice.

It made no sense at all.

Sure, they’d had a terrific fling in Vegas. He’d had sex he’d never dreamed would be so good. He’d been shaken to his very core by her responses to him. He’d wanted more, not less, and he’d only begun to explore what lay between them.

And now he couldn’t even talk to her on the goddamn telephone.

No swearing. Not in my house.
He heard his mother’s voice ringing in his head and he had to smile. Maybe if he quit swearing, he’d find her.

Bemused by the thought, he tried her home number for the nth time.

And sure enough, she answered!

He made a mental note to send a dozen roses to the long-suffering and oh-so-wise Thelma James of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, as he said, “Daffy, what’s happening?” just as if she’d called him rather than the other way around.

“Hunter, what a surprise.”

Surprise. Dammit, he’d sent her flowers. Called her at least three times in two days. What was the surprise?

“The connection is breaking up,” she said.

No swearing. Hunter gripped the phone and said, “I’m going to be stuck in Salt Lake for at least another day or so.”

“I can hear you now. This merger must be complicated.”

“Very,” he said, wondering whether he should tell her how much he missed her. And how much that amazed him.

“Business is like that,” Daffy said.

Hunter nodded. He was doing a pretty poor job of this phone-conversation thing.

Silence hung over the lines, plumping the pockets of his mobile provider but doing nothing for Hunter’s interests. Finally he said, “Daffy?”

“Yes?” Her voice leapt a bit, which gave Hunter hope.

“If you’re not busy this weekend . . .”

“Yes?” This time the question was much more reserved and Hunter almost lost his nerve. But not for nothing had he earned his way out of the gutter.

“Want to go up to Ponchatoula with me?”

“Ponchatoula?”

Right. Daffy the consummate Uptown girl had to think he was pulling her leg. She probably thought City Park was a suburb of New Orleans. Well, for some things Hunter refused to apologize. “My hometown,” he said.

Silence ticked away yet again. Hunter stared across the lonely sitting room of his suite in Salt Lake’s finest hotel, picturing Daffy beneath him on the bed in Vegas, her face a symphony of ecstasy as he brought her to the heights of pleasure. But other images overlapped, particularly the rancid memory of Emily ridiculing him for having the nerve to ask out the homecoming queen.

“I’d love to go with you,” she said softly.

Hunter stared at his phone. Had she really said yes? And why did it matter so much? “Great,” he said. “I’ll pick you up early Saturday morning. I’m afraid I may not be in until late Friday.”

“Sounds good,” Daffy said. “I have an event I have to cover Friday night anyway.”

“Oh,” Hunter said. Had he expected her to be sitting by the phone, nothing else going on in her life?

“Hunter?”

It was his turn to utter the “Yes?” that drove him crazy when she’d said it.

A beep sounded on the line and Daffy, to his extreme frustration, said, “See you Saturday. I’ve got to get this call.”

And there he was, alone in his suite, left hanging.

At least Saturday was only three days away.

Daffy felt compelled to take the other call, knowing that if she stayed on the line much longer, she’d break down and shout out her need for Hunter like a silly teenager suffering her first crush.

And Daffy Landry had never needed any man.

Right. So, chicken that she was, she took the other call rather than acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, things were changing. Why else did she feel as if the lights in her room had dimmed the moment he hung up?

Jonni repeated her greeting and Daffy blinked and managed to respond.

“You left me a message to call you,” Jonni said in her usual self-contained and quiet way.

“That’s right. I did.” But the only person she wanted to talk to was Hunter. No, that wasn’t true. She had asked Jonni to phone her. “There’s something I wanted to tell you,” Daffy began.

“If it’s about David, I don’t want to hear it,” Jonni said.

Daffy held the receiver out and stared at the beige plastic. “Excuse me?”

“I know you’ve been thinking the worst of him, and if you’ve gone and done something to try to prove it, I simply do not want to know.”

Wow. “Well, it’s a good thing I don’t have bad news,” Daffy said.

“So you did do something.”

“I only followed him.”

“Daffy!”

“I was trying to help.”

“I don’t need any help.” Her sister’s voice was firm.

“But if he were seeing someone else, wouldn’t you want to know?”

“What difference would it make?”

“What difference?” Daffy knew her voice shot up. “Only about a day-and-night difference.”

“I married David and I’m not leaving him,” her sister said softly, but in a determined voice that raised the small hairs on Daffy’s neck.

“Even if he were cheating on you?” Daffy knew how strongly Jonni felt about the fidelity she expected of herself; how could she make an exception for her husband? Why, one of the reasons Daffy doubted that she would ever marry was because she wasn’t sure she wasn’t too much of her mother’s daughter not to stray.