Part 5 (1/2)

”So, what'd you think of my friends?” he asked once they were on the road.

She'd been shy during the day, as usual, but both Jon, Lori and Morris were outgoing people. Of course he thought all of his friends were likable.

”They seemed nice,” she gave what sounded like an honest answer. ”How old is Lori?”

”She just turned nineteen a couple months ago.” Rod turned his head to look at her. Her hands were tightly clasped, the expression on her face unreadable.

”Blackie must be at least thirty,” she said softly.

”Thirty-four.”

”Thirty-four!”

It dawned on him that the age different between Lori and Blackie, considering their relations.h.i.+p, appalled her. ”Oh. They don't sleep together, if that's what you think. Jerry wouldn't allow it. He just lets them. . .hang together, cuz Blackie promised to watch out for her.”

”But why would a man want to. . .?” Her question trailed off, as if she realized he might be offended by it.

”See, Lori was pretty wild, when she was like twelve or thirteen. She hung around with these punks who did drugs and were always getting thrown in jail for something. Well, Lori's always been crazy about Blackie, so Jerry asked him to take care of her. Blackie tamed her.”

”I'm sorry. It wasn't my place to pry,” Bethany murmured, obviously not understanding the relations.h.i.+p any more now than when all she'd had were a.s.sumptions. But it was no big deal. n.o.body understood Blackie. Blackie probably didn't understand Blackie.

She asked him who Morris was as if to ease the tension, and he explained that Morris was his sister's business partner and that he'd put up the collateral for the bike shop he owned with Jon and Blackie.

They didn't talk again, and when Rod glanced at her a half hour later, she was asleep. He smiled because it meant she was sort of comfortable with him.

Turning on the radio really low, he drove back to Stevens Point.

He supposed he should have been as tired as she was. For someone who was used to sleeping quite a few hours later than he had the night before, he should have been exhausted. Yet he was wide awake, thinking about making love to Bethany.

Antic.i.p.ation had always meant the same thing as gratification for him. He understood the difference now, and appreciated it. What reason had he ever needed to get to know a woman before he made love to her? Almost from the start, he'd known nothing serious would come of it.

This was different.

Bethany had to be exhausted, because she didn't even wake up when they got to her apartment building sometime around 10:30. He got out of the car, let Cameron out of the back seat, then went around to the pa.s.senger side. He found the apartment keys in her purse and slung the bag over his shoulder. Lifting her slight weight from the seat didn't wake her either.

She roused as he tried to maneuver the key in her apartment door, but didn't seem to realize or care what was happening. The lack of a blush from her sent a jolt through him. He felt as if she'd opened up a window to her soul for him to look inside without the guards.

Cameron ran in ahead of them, then Rod kicked the door shut with his foot.

”I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--” she started as he entered the living room, flipped on the lights, and sat in the chair with her on his lap.

When she tried to turn, to stand, he held her more firmly. ”Don't. Sit with me. I wanna hold you, sweetness.”

Bethany looked uncomfortably shy now, but he wasn't willing to step back away from that window yet. Glancing down, she tried to adjust her skirt, which had ridden up considerably.

Rod lifted her chin. ”I'm crazy about you, Bethany. I've never felt like this. I wanna spend every minute with you.” He let his fingers trail over the shoulder and sleeve of her fuzzy sweater. ”Do you like me even a little bit?”

Of all the women he'd ever been involved with, every one of them would have been coy and said, ”Maybe a little bit.” Not Bethany. She let her lashes cover her embarra.s.sment as she told him honestly, ”I like you a lot, Rod. I like spending time with you.”

He became suddenly and fiercely hungry for her tenderness, her one-of-a-kind sweetness, when she glanced up at him demurely.

Pulling her up so her b.r.e.a.s.t.s met his chest, he kissed her again. As aroused as he was, he wanted to go slow with her. He didn't know if a woman had ever fallen in love with him during all his brief relations.h.i.+ps, but he wanted this woman to fall in love with him. That meant giving her all the time she needed to be sure of him. He wanted it to feel as right to her as it did to him.

Feeling her hands glide lightly up his arms to his shoulders, he tilted his lap to get her closer to him. She responded to the solicitation of his tongue, allowing her lips to open a fraction. Her warmth was like a coc.o.o.n around him.

G.o.d, how she fit him.

She broke away breathlessly, pressing her face to his shoulder. Hugging her in return, he smoothed his hand over her long hair. ”Pretty Bethany, I want you to be mine.”

Her quick intake of air made him smile. It didn't matter whether she believed him or not, as long as she gave him the time to prove himself.

Bethany woke up annoyed, an emotion she'd only had rare experiences with.

The sound of a ringing phone woke her. Sitting up, she asked herself harshly why she'd never had a line installed in her bedroom. Never mind that she always got up well before anyone would think to call.

When the ringing continued, she flung back the covers and raced for the living room. It seemed to her the telephone had rang for a half hour, but the answering machine would have picked it up after the fourth ring.

Grabbing up the phone from the endtable, she mumbled, ”h.e.l.lo? h.e.l.lo?”

”Bethie? Where the h.e.l.l have you been? I was worried sick.”

Suddenly she felt like she'd been caught in something, especially when Rod rose from the couch and moved tiredly down the hallway to her bathroom.

He'd spent the night! Oh gosh. Even if it wasn't. . .in her bed, it was more than she'd ever allowed before.

”Randy, I'm sorry. What time is it?”

”Eight o'clock. Where were you last night? I called until nine o'clock.”

Her brother sounded unusually upset, he was such a laid-back guy normally.

Bethany couldn't seem to think clearly. Again, she'd hardly gotten any sleep, and she was more exhausted than she'd ever been in her life. She hadn't even consumed any alcohol yesterday.

Moving around the couch, she perched on the sofa, rubbing her eyes. ”I went to Milwaukee. It's a long drive, so I got back late.” Her last three or four words were punctuated by a yawn she couldn't stifle.

”What were you doing in Milwaukee? You've always been terrified of that place.”

Bethany was embarra.s.sed to be reminded of that. Milwaukee seemed like such an. . .unchristian place. But she was too tired to explain or try to cover up.

”I had a date. I'm fine, Randy. You don't need to worry. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you called.”

Randy wasn't about to change his colors just because she was obviously exhausted. When it came to his loved ones, he was a dog on a bone. ”You had a date in Milwaukee, Bethie? There are things to do in Point, you know. Who is this guy?”

By the way he expressed it, she suspected that he already knew and dreaded her answer. ”It's Rod Summers, but don't worry, Randy. He's not like Scott Reeves. I promise.”