He Loves Lucy (16 page)

At about five, Theo drove them back to the house, where they planned to eat and get showered and changed for the evening’s festivities-the closing ceremony and victory dance. The dance was all Buddy talked about on the drive from the stadium. Apparently, the dance was the best thing about the Summer Games.

“Are you going to dance tonight, Lucy?” Buddy had turned his excited sun-brown face around toward her in the backseat of Theo’s car, where she sat enjoying the air-conditioning.

“I’m not a big dancer, Buddy.”

“Oh, don’t be such a party pooper!” He turned around in his seat, clearly disappointed.

Theo caught her eye in the rearview mirror and smiled. “Tonight just might change all that, Luce,” he said.

Dinner was ready when they arrived, and Martin and Vivian waited for them in the cavernous dining room, sipping cocktails and looking cool and rested. Lucy was starving. It was all she could do not to attack the meal of grilled halibut and vegetables, cold corn relish, and salad. She wanted to shove it in with her bare hands until she was so stuffed she couldn’t move. Instead, she forced herself to eat a sensible portion slowly, with utensils and everything, and enjoyed the company.

After dinner, Lucy had just enough time to get a shower and change before they had to leave again. She’d only brought one nice outfit-a new sundress in a size L-no “Xs” anywhere on the tag. It was a simple sheath in muted oranges and pinks, with a zipper in the back and a scoop neck. It hit just above her knees. She put on a pair of fisherman sandals and dabbed on some lip gloss and gave herself a sprite of Paradise Awaits. She kept her hair loose around her shoulders so it could dry naturally.

Lucy was writing in her food journal when Buddy began calling her name from down the long hallway.

“Lucy! Let’s go! I can’t be late!”

She met Buddy in the foyer, immediately noticing how dapper he looked in his white cotton button-down and chinos, his short hair glistening with gel, his face scrubbed clean. When Lucy asked Buddy why he wasn’t wearing his gold medals, he looked at her like she was from Mars.

“It’s uncool to wear your medals to the dance,” he said. “It looks like you’re bragging.”

Theo strolled into the foyer, jangling his car keys and patting his pants pocket for his wallet, and Lucy’s heart just about fell to the white marble floor. He was wearing a pale blue loose-fitting rayon shirt with an open neck, white linen slacks, and sandals. He looked squeaky clean. He glowed from the sun. He smelled like heaven; A little patch of golden-brown hair appeared just below the hollow of his throat.

She had the strangest urge to lick him there.

Theo stopped, turned, and gave Lucy an odd little frown-almost as if he’d just heard her thoughts out loud. That would be a problem, since throat licking wasn’t something friends did to each other as a rule; at least it wasn’t something she’d done with any friend she’d ever had.

“Can we just
go
now?” Buddy stood by the front door with his hands on his hips. “You are staring at each other like you do on TV and I just really feel like dancing.”

The closing ceremony was short and sweet, and as a few special awards were handed out Lucy’s body stung with awareness. Theo sat next to her in the stands, the long solid length of his thigh pressed up against her from hip to knee. All Lucy could think about was the kiss they’d shared on another track in another town, the one that they’d agreed was a mistake, and how she could go about getting another one.

Lucy turned slightly and looked at Theo. He was staring at her with that odd little frown again. But he didn’t look her in the eye. He scanned her face, stopping with particular concern on her lips. Then his nostrils flared.

Lucy needed to say something funny and say it now or she was going to throw her arms around Theo Redmond’s neck and kiss her trainer in front of thousands of mentally retarded Floridians.

She was saved from this humiliation when the emcee announced that the Games had come to their official close and added, “Would anyone care to dance?”

It was mayhem. Athletes stampeded out of the stands and swarmed the infield, jumping and running and shouting as the DJ began his program.

Lucy and Theo hung back in the stands for a while to get a good view of the action.

Many of the girls and women wore nice dresses, all along the spectrum from church clothes to chiffon prom dresses complete with matching corsages. The boys and men sported everything from the usual shorts and tees to slippery oversize suits and spats.

The crowd went into a frenzy when the disc jockey played “The Chicken Dance,” followed by “Wooly Bully,” then the Village People’s “YMCA,” and ‘The Macarena.“

“That DJ has got to start pacing himself,” Lucy said to Theo. “He’s already played all the greatest songs known to man and it’s not even eight thirty.”

“Dance with me, Luce.” Theo grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

“But-” Lucy stumbled forward, tugging on the hem of her sundress.

“No buts tonight.” Theo led her down the steps and across the track, greeting at least a dozen people he knew on the way, never stopping, finally pulling her onto the grass and into his arms.

“I’m not the world’s best dancer, Theo.”

“And that’s going to be a problem here?” He gestured broadly at the crowd around them and smiled down at Lucy.

She had to admit he had a point. There was some rather unconventional movement taking place on the grassy dance floor, and much of it didn’t require a partner or even a beat. One woman was happily doing the 1960s-era Swim. There was a long and disjointed conga line snaking through the crowd, gleefully knocking apart small groups as it went. There was a Rockette-like kick line of women with decidedly un-Rockette-like physiques. And some waltzing. Plus a lot of jumping around and hollering.

Lucy didn’t think she’d ever been around so many people who couldn’t care less what others thought of them.

“Thanks for asking me here this weekend.”

Theo’s face softened, and in the bright stadium lights his eyes twinkled down on her. “Thanks for coming.”

The DJ chose that particular moment to play Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” which made Lucy groan and turn her face away from Theo’s.

“Does Elvis make you uncomfortable?”

“Just some of his lyrics.”

Theo’s hand pressed into the small of Lucy’s back and brought her even closer. She felt herself mold into him, rest her cheek on his hard but comfortable chest. Why did everything about Theo have to be just right? Why couldn’t his chest feel too bony under her cheek, or too fleshy? Why couldn’t she be disgusted by the scent of his skin? Why couldn’t she be annoyed by the sound of his voice?

One of Theo’s hands moved to her hair and Lucy started. She tried to pull away, but he kept her there, and that’s when she felt his lips press down on the top of her head.

“Viv and Martin like you, Luce.”

“I like them.”

“You look lovely tonight.”

“God. Just stop, Theo.”

She pushed away enough to break his embrace, only to find her face right below his. He inclined his head enough to bring his lips too close to hers.

Her pulse kicked up to heart-attack speed. “I think we need to stay away from running tracks. We make mistakes on running tracks.”

“Damn, Lucy.” Theo’s breath was warm and sweet on her mouth, and all it would have taken was the slightest forward movement on her part and they would be kissing again. It’s what she wanted. It’s what she feared.

“Can I dance with you?”

They pulled apart to look down at the source of the request. It was a man no more than five feet tall, at least sixty years old, wearing four bronze medals around his chubby neck and a very wide grin on his elfin face. He stared at Lucy with open adoration. He drooled just a little.

“Of course,” Lucy said, feeling Theo’s hands fall away from her body. It was probably for the best. Of course it was. So she welcomed her new dance partner and put one hand on his shoulder as he put a hand on her waist and gazed up at her.

“You are so beautiful,” he said. “I’m Fred. Are you married?”

They arrived back at the house about ten thirty. Viv and Martin were already asleep and Buddy went right to bed. It had been a very long day for him.

Lucy said good night to Theo and was about to venture down the long hallway toward her guest suite when he called her.

“Wanna go for a swim?”

Of course she did. Or did not. Of course she wanted to spend more time with Theo. No she didn’t.

“I didn’t bring a swimsuit. Sorry.” She gave him a nice smile. “Good night.”

“You don’t need one.”

Her brain seized momentarily. Then she said, “Oh yes. Yes, I do. I need a suit so bad you wouldn’t freakin‘ believe it.” Theo’s laughter caused the heat of embarrassment to spread over her face. “Good night, Theo.”

“We can turn off the pool lights, Luce. And with the twenty-foot privacy fence, only NSA spy satellites could see us.”

He was serious! Theo wanted to go skinny-dipping!

“No thank you.”

“OK, fine. I give up. There’s a whole closet of swimsuits in the cabana. Let’s find one for you.”

She laughed, admiring his strategy, then found herself following Theo through the foyer and the main hallway, through the family room, and out the double doors leading to the huge screened-in lanai around the pool. She walked with him past the pool’s two elaborate fountains, trickling and bubbling in the background, along the side of the house to the cabana, where he flicked on the lights.

Inside was a large sitting room furnished in tasteful wicker and white wrought iron, and off to the side were two small changing areas. Theo opened a louvered closet near the entrance to the ladies’ room.

“Here you go.” The door swung open to reveal a bathing suit selection that rivaled that of the average Kmart. “What size do you wear?”

It was such a simple question. But her lips went numb.

Theo looked over his shoulder. “Do you want a one-piece or a two-piece?”

Lucy laughed out loud. She hadn’t worn a two-piece swimsuit since fourth grade. It had been a burnt orange color and she remembered it had an annoying habit of giving her a wedgie when she went off the high dive.

“One-piece,” she mumbled.

Theo pulled out a tankini on a hanger, the price tag still attached, and peered at the size on the side seam. “It says twelve. Will that be too big?”

Lucy snatched it out of his hand and disappeared into the changing room.

“So I’ll meet you in the pool?” Theo asked. “Do you want a drink?”

“I want a margarita!” she shouted. “A big-ass frozen margarita with salt on the rim, and a plate of chicken nachos dripping with guacamole and sour cream!”

There were a few seconds of silence before Theo said, “One light beer coming right up.”

Lucy saw her reflection in the mirror and her eyes bugged out. Yes, the tankini fit. It fit nicely, in fact.

“A light beer would be perfect,” she answered. “And I was just kidding about the nachos. I swear.”

Theo changed into his trunks, then padded over to the fully stocked kitchen across the lanai. This was a nice way to live, he had to admit, but he wondered what Viv and Martin’s friends had sacrificed for this kind of wealth. Theo knew nothing about them, other than they were generous and had a money and taste, but he figured people who had to work hard enough to be this rich had missed out on a few of life’s simple joys. Like relaxation. Like spending time with their families.

He wondered how often they even used their own pool.

Theo popped the tops of the beers and brought them to the pool’s edge, then dived in. The water felt soothing, cascading over his hot skin, rippling coolness over the length of his body as he swam. He decided to do a few laps while Lucy got changed, hoping maybe he could clear his head a bit.

He had a problem. His problem was Lucy and his out-of-control desire for her. He was aware that holding her in his arms and nearly kissing her were the absolute wrong things to be doing, yet when she stood there in front of him tonight on the infield, her eyes so wide and pretty and all of her smelling so good, he succumbed to his lesser self. The only thing that mattered was getting her as close as he could.

They had more than six months left together. Lucy was the walking wounded, and she still wouldn’t tell him why. What he needed to do was keep things simple with her. He had no right to tease her or lead her on. He had no right to act on his attraction to her when he had no intention of starting a relationship. There was a real possibility that he could hurt her. And he would rather die than hurt her.

Theo did a flip turn at the wall and out of one watery eye he saw her standing above him. He stopped, burst up from the shallow end, and pushed the water off his face.

He hadn’t seen Lucy in a swimsuit since last November, and the sight was giving him the kind of perspective he couldn’t get from numbers alone. A transformed woman stood in front of him. She was breathtaking.

She held her head high. Her elegant arms and hands hung to her sides, and he could see the very feminine curve of her hips, the indentation of her waist, the swell of her breasts. He saw a little bit of her belly peeking through the tankini, and it was round and full and female.

Seeing her like this almost made him wish they didn’t have to keep pushing for her to lose more weight. She looked perfect to him just as she was.

She daintily dipped a toe into the water and Theo knew that if he were thinking straight he’d be focusing on her quad definition and not how he wanted to nibble on the velvet-soft inside of her thigh.

“Jump in.”

She did and barely missed his head.

He wiped the water from his eyes and laughed. “I said jump in, not on!”