Sugar Creek (15 page)

And then she didn’t ask him to stop anymore.

In fact, she gasped at the touch, her eyes closing in pleasure.

And thank God. Because Mike got so caught up in it, in stroking his fingers through her warm moisture, that he soon felt…almost like he would if
she’d
been touching
him
that intimately. His limbs went weak with a lust that gave him the sensation of drowning—but in a good way. Like surrendering. Being swallowed up by something bigger than him.

She moved against his palm in a perfect, sensual rhythm, her eyes still closed, which allowed him to watch her unabashedly. Her pretty cheeks flushed with color and her jaw went slack, her lips parting prettily. Her body undulated like liquid heat, rising to meet his fingers.

Finally, he kissed her some more—he couldn’t help it; he needed to have his mouth on her. He kissed her cheek, her lips, her neck—he kissed her breasts through her clothing. He lifted her shirt with his free hand and kissed her pale, slender stomach. And he wanted to kiss
her lower—but he knew he couldn’t, not here, not now, so he simply went as low as he could, down around her belly button and just below, and he stroked her more deeply still, acutely aware of her wetness.

Suddenly, both her fists clutched at the couch cushion at either side of her body and she let out a soft moan—making him hope like hell Edna was a sound sleeper—and then she thrust at his hand, harder, harder, and he knew she was coming. She was coming gorgeously, powerfully, and he watched her face contort into what looked like agonizing pleasure—before finally relaxing again, appearing replete.

And he felt desperate to yank her jeans down and do some thrusting of his own—but he still couldn’t. He’d started this, and he’d just have to suck it up and live with it for now. So instead he simply watched her some more—as he gently extracted his hand, as she finally opened her eyes.

“I should kill you,” she said.

Even from her, it caught him off guard. “That’s not the response I usually get to something like that.”

“You know what I mean,” she whispered harshly, reaching to do up her jeans.

“Well, what I
hope
you mean is something more like, ‘Thank you, Mike—that was very generous and I forgot all about my twisted ankle.’”

Despite his words, she drew in her breath in a huff. “What I mean is that Edna could have walked in here at any moment.”

“But you
did
forget about your ankle,” he pointed out.

She shrugged. “Fair enough. And…” She seemed to be losing the attitude some, being a little friendlier, like she eventually had in the concession stand. “And that was, um…nice.” Ah—it appeared the afterglow of orgasm was finally hitting her.
Note to self: Rachel gets nicer after orgasms.

“That’s more like it, Farris,” he said.

And to his surprise, she even reached up and drew him back down for another long kiss, a really
hot
kiss, which—shit—felt great but made his dick ache all the more.

And for some odd reason, an idea hit him, and he didn’t even stop to think about it—he just said, “I have a thing a week from Saturday.”

“A thing,” she repeated dryly.

“A family thing. And I need to bring a girl.”

With her arms still around his neck, she drew back slightly into the pillows, lowering her chin and narrowing her gaze critically. “Is that your way of asking me on a date?”

He shrugged. Since he hadn’t thought this through, he didn’t know the answer. “Guess you can call it that if you want.”

At this, Rachel released him from her grasp entirely and crossed her arms. “I
don’t
want. And…I don’t think so.” She shook her head, as if making the decision final.

He made a face. “Damn, Farris, am I
that
bad?” Because, despite all the negative stuff between them, her refusal surprised him. Since they’d discovered there were
some
ways in which they got along very well.

“Well, you certainly know how to take a girl’s mind off her troubles, but…” She shook her head against the pillows. “We really can’t keep going like this. And it would be too weird to be a Farris at a Romo family event. They might throw food at me or something.”

Mike laughed at her theatrics. “Not likely. It’s my grandmother’s birthday. And don’t worry—I’ll protect you.”

Their eyes met—and for a second, he thought she was considering it. Until she said, “Still…no. I know we’ve managed to put our differences aside long enough to fool around, but other than that, we can barely tolerate each other. And besides, I still don’t like you trying to steal the orchard from Edna.”

Huh. Fine then. Who cared anyway? And it was probably for the best. He simply shrugged once more and said, “Your loss.”

The words made her eyebrows shoot up. “How so?”

Wasn’t it obvious? He let a slow grin unfurl. “I might have shown you some more outrageous again.”

Rachel’s face first registered contempt, then took on an expression that told him maybe that didn’t sound like such a bad idea—when they both heard a soft stirring elsewhere in the little house. “Edna!” she whispered.

“We’re good,” Mike said softly, trying to calm her back down. “You’re all zipped up.”

Which made her bite her lip and look all dreamy again, like maybe he’d reminded her how recently she’d been
un
zipped and why. And damn, that didn’t help the strain behind
his
zipper one bit—but he still liked knowing the mere memory could re-excite her that fast.

As he pushed to his feet, he hoped his erection didn’t show—hell, that was what had started this whole thing and sent him into the orchard, so it seemed ironic that he found himself in exactly the same position he’d been trying to avoid: facing Rachel’s grandma while sporting a stiffy. He simply shook his head. What was the world coming to when he couldn’t rein in his lust any better than this?

Just then, a door opened somewhere nearby and seconds later, Edna came toddling into the room. “Oh—Mike. Ya damn near scared the wits outta me.” Then she reached up to touch her hair. “I just woke up, so I probably look like Halloween came early.”

“Sorry, Edna,” he said.

That’s when her gaze dropped to Rachel, stretched out on the couch with her foot propped up under the bag of peas. “Uh-oh. What happened to
you
?”

“Fell,” she said. Then she hiked a thumb in his direction. “
His
fault.”

Edna’s brow knit, first as she walked over and lifted the peas to study Rachel’s ankle, then as she peered toward Mike.

It seemed to Mike like a good time to remind Edna she liked him better than most Romos, so he said, “I just stopped by to check in on you. I know it’s harvest season and you’ve got a couple helpers, but if there’s anything else you need, let me know.”

Mike watched the wrinkles on Edna’s face shift slightly as a small smile unfolded there. “You’re sly, Mike,” she said, shaking a finger at him. “If I were to take your help, it might just obligate me to you.”

He lifted his hands as if in surrender. “No such thing, Edna. I’m just trying to be neighborly and put the feud in the past.”

Which caused a loud
harrumph
to rise from the couch. When he glanced down, Rachel’s arms were crossed again. “You sure haven’t put it in the past with
me
.”

He couldn’t help giving her a pointed look—part disbelief, part amusement. “Come on now—you and I have been getting along a little better
lately
, haven’t we?”

She met his gaze and he knew they were both back to the concession stand again.

“Even just a little while ago,” he reminded her. “I thought I was
very
nice to you.”

Her eyes narrowed into thin slits as if to say
Shut up
. But he saw heat in that blue gaze, too. “I…guess,” she finally said.

So he turned back to Edna. “Like I was saying—before I was so rudely interrupted—let me know if you need anything. It’s an honest offer, Edna—no strings attached, okay?”

Edna’s arms were crossed now, as well, as she eyed him warily—and he began to feel a little ganged up on by Farris women…until she finally relaxed her stance to say, “We’re doin’ okay so far, but I’ll keep it in mind. And
thanks for stoppin’ in—despite what Rachel here thinks, I reckon you mean well.”

“I do,” he said, then glanced back to the belligerent girl on the couch. “As for you, stay off that ankle. And remember, veggies on, veggies off.”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes.

“I’m pretty sure you mean, ‘Thanks, Mike, for nearly breaking your back carrying me in from the orchard,’ but that’s okay.” Then he shifted his gaze back to her grandma. “Take care of yourself and Miss Mean Jeans there, Edna. See ya soon.”

Rachel watched as Mike disappeared through the dining room, headed toward the back door. Then she sat up, reached down, and removed her peas—surely fifteen minutes had passed, probably more.

“You two have the hots for each other, don’t ya?” Edna asked.

“
What?
” Rachel exploded, outraged. Mainly because she had no idea how Edna could tell. Damned old mind-reading woman. “Are you crazy?”

“No, just observant.”

Rachel flashed a look of disbelief, then recrossed her arms. “And just what is it you think you observed?”

“You bein’ ornery to a good lookin’ fella who was tryin’ to take care of ya, for one thing.”

Rachel shrugged. “Like I need somebody to take care of me,” she grumbled. Then blinked, remembering. “Okay, yes, I did need someone to carry me in the house, but I’m here now, and I have you if I need help, so no big deal.”

“Don’t sell short a man who’ll take care of ya—it might be worth more than ya think.”

Rachel didn’t know what Edna meant by that, so she simply rolled her eyes and scooched around on the couch to get more comfortable—and tried to forget she’d let Mike Romo put his hand down her pants a few short minutes ago. How had
that
happened?

“My other clue,” Edna went on, “was that I don’t believe Mike generally wears his jeans that tight. He must have quite a trouser snake for it to make such a big difference in the fit of his jeans.”

Rachel’s jaw dropped as she stared at her grandmother in utter shock. “Quite a
what
?”

And Edna just looked at her as if she were thick-headed. “A penis, girl, I’m talkin’ about his penis. He must have a pretty nice one for it to make his jeans so tight when he’s excited. The same was true of his grandpa,” she mused, growing instantly more lighthearted. Then she lifted one finger in the air. “Now
that
, I gotta say, is one good thing about the Romos.”

A few days later, on a crisp September Saturday, Rachel meandered through Creekside Park with Tessa and Amy. All the girls were casually dressed in jeans and gym shoes. Although Rachel generally reserved such shoes for manual labor or exercise, her friends had convinced her it only made sense.

“We’re going to the park, not a fashion show,” Tessa had pointed out when she and Amy arrived at Edna’s to pick her up.

“And you’re just getting over a twisted ankle,” Amy reminded her.

Yet she topped the outfit with a comfy soft pink zip-up hoody she seldom wore but which suddenly struck her as cheerful. Since she had to like
something
she was wearing, fashion show or not. She couldn’t help it—she considered her clothing a reflection of herself.

“You’re not even limping,” Amy said with surprise as they crossed the grass, shuffling through the first autumn leaves scattering the ground. Hints of gold and orange tinted the trees billowing above them.

“I’m lucky it healed so quickly,” Rachel replied, nodding. “I stayed off it for a couple of days, and since then
it’s been fine. I even got back out in the orchard with Edna yesterday. Which is important.”

“Because the sooner all the apples are picked, the sooner you can leave,” Amy said glumly.

“No, Miss Sad Sack,” Rachel corrected her, stuffing her hands in the pockets on her hoody. “I’m stuck here until the apple festival anyway, so it’s more a matter of…making sure Edna doesn’t push herself too hard.”

“So did you ever figure out if she was faking her ailment?” Tessa asked.

“Not really,” Rachel replied. “But either way, she’s getting older, and as much as I don’t like to see it, she’s not as spry as she used to be.”

Walking along the split-rail fence that lined this stretch of Sugar Creek, Rachel could hear the water cascading over the rocks below, and it reminded her of Edna’s sexual encounter with Giovanni Romo—somewhere just across the creek, in the orchard. It probably seemed to Edna like it had happened just yesterday, and yet look how many years had passed. And though Rachel still didn’t know the whole story, it made her a little sad to realize that
whatever
had happened, later in life Edna had ended up by herself. She’d never thought much about that until lately, because her grandmother had always seemed so capable and independent—but who really wanted to end up alone?

Apparently, me.
Or that’s what her plan in life called for anyway, now that she thought about it. She’d just never seriously looked that far down the path, to old age and what it might be like. The strange insight made her chest tighten slightly.

“So how’d you fall off the ladder anyway?” Amy asked.

Oh. She hadn’t told them that part yet. “It was Officer Romeo’s fault,” she explained as they continued following a paved, twisting path along the creek bank. Then she proceeded to share the whole story, from the em
barrassing start to the painful middle to the orgasmic conclusion.

The last of which left poor Amy blushing madly.

“Yeah, I was shocked, too,” Rachel said. “That I let it happen. I certainly had no intention of it, and I tried to stop, I really did.” Then she bit her lip. “The thing that shocked me even
more
, though, was that he was so…selfless. Sexually, I mean.”

But next to her, Tessa shook her head. “It wasn’t selfless,” she insisted. “He just got off on…you know, getting you excited. That makes some guys feel all hot and powerful.”