Holiday Trilogy Special Edition Read online

  "You got a divorce because of that?"

  He shook his head. "Dee and I were never married. We met in college at O-State, dated around a little bit, and by the time she went off to law school in Kansas we were pretty serious."

  "Oh my, law school in Kansas, huh?" Maddie smiled.

  He shrugged. "It's a good law school, and it was close to home. Are you a snob when it comes to things like that?"

  She chuckled. "No. Just a jab at Dionne. I was already thinking she must not be very bright if she let you slip through her hands."

  He laughed and pushed his plate aside. He leaned back on the blanket to stare up at the sky. "We tried. We really did. Sophie was a surprise, sort of threw a kink in our plans, but she's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

  Maddie loved the way Rob's face lit up when he talked about his daughter. "So, was Dionne finished with law school?"

  "Just barely. She had to push back her bar exam, but she eventually took it and passed on the first try. She got a job right away. I was working for my father at his feed and grain supply. I told him I wanted to work outside, and he thought that's what I meant. I thought it was the most boring thing I've ever done in my life."

  "Feed and grain, eh?" Maddie pondered that as she lay back next to him. "Sounds truly Oklahoman."

  He looked at her. "You, on the other hand, do not. Tell me, where are you from?"

  "What makes you think I'm not from Oklahoma?"

  He grinned. "You offered me a 'soda'. We call it 'pop' around here."

  "Damn." She snapped her fingers. "I've got to remember that."

  Rob rolled up on his side next to her. All the picnic stuff was between them, so he wasn't too close. "Spill it. Where are you from?"

  Maddie stared at the sky as she answered, "Hartford. Insurance Capital of the world."

  "Connecticut?" He seemed surprised.

  "Only Insurance Capital of the world I know of. Unless someone is trying to sneak in on our territory."

  "How the hell did you wind up in Meridan, Oklahoma?"

  Maddie rolled over to face him. "It's a fascinating story, and I promise to tell you every word. But first I would truly love one kiss."

  He looked at her skeptically. "Were you so tipsy that you don't remember where our 'one kiss' was leading last night?"

  She smiled. "Oh, I remember."

  "We agreed to take our time and get to know each other." He stopped short when she placed two fingers on his lips.

  "I heard what you said, and I appreciate it. I'd been thinking something along those same lines. But I was also thinking we're both adults. What better way to get to know each other?"

  He touched her face. "Only if you're sure. I respect you too much to do anything that might make you uncomfortable, Maddie."

  "Thank you. I just couldn't handle a one night stand then have to see you at work every day."

  He caressed her cheek. "We are not going to have a one night stand. Truth be told, I hoped this would happen when I invited you for lunch today. Sophie's gone for thirty more hours. I'd like to spend the better part of that making love to you."

  A shiver ran down Maddie's spine and she nodded.

  "But we're going to do this right. Let's get this stuff back to the house. I want to take you to my bed."

  She patted the blanket beneath them. "This is pretty cozy, right here."

  Leaning in to whisper in her ear, he said, "Our first time is going to be a lot of things, but 'cozy' is not high on my list."

  "Whatever you want."

  He nibbled her earlobe. "You know what I want. You, naked, with plenty of time and privacy to act out all the fantasies I've had this week."

  Maddie was instantly aroused by the pure lust she heard in his words. "Let's get going, then."

  They shoved the remnants of the picnic back into the basket, and the trash into another bag. Rob folded the blanket, and they walked hand in hand to his house. "Hey, Bo," he said to the big Golden Retriever who met them inside the kitchen door.

  "Oh, hi Bo!" Maddie patted the dog's head, and he licked her hand.

  "He likes you."

  "Or the chicken on my fingers," Maddie reminded him.

  "Oh, yeah." Rob sent Bo to the back yard and put away the food from their picnic basket. He turned on the water and washed his hands.

  Maddie stuck her fingers under the stream with his. "Make sure you use plenty of soap." She lathered all four of their hands, and rubbed hers over his seductively.

  He groaned as she massaged his fingers one by one. He shut the water off and wiped his hands quickly on a towel. "There's something I've wanted to do since I met you." He reached for the band at bottom of her hair braid and pulled it out, using his fingers to unweave the braid until her hair was loose and flowing. Running his hands though it, he murmured, "This feels as wonderful as I imagined it would." Rob wound his hand in her hair and gently tugged at it, pulling her close to him. He covered her mouth with his, no longer tentative, moving his tongue forward to what he desired.

  Maddie opened her mouth and drove her tongue forward to meet his. His mouth was hot and wet, a condition Maddie found that the rest of her body was rapidly sinking into. She slid her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, urging him to take more.

  Rob growled. "God, I want you!" His mouth skimmed down her neck, nibbling and sucking as it went. "I don't think I've ever wanted anyone as much as I want you."

  "Take me," she encouraged, bending her neck to the rough scrape of his face. "Take all of me."

  Rob pulled back slowly and smiled at her with a glazed look in his eyes. Maddie thought hers probably looked the same way. She was so aroused, she feared she might explode if he kept touching her. "Where's the bedroom?" she asked urgently.

  "This way." He took her hand and led her down the hall.

  * * * *

  When she opened her eyes later, it took a few heart-stopping moments for Maddie to remember where she was. The room was unfamiliar, but she quickly recalled the events of the afternoon. She smiled and settled back as she relived them in her mind.

  She glanced around the room. Rob was nowhere in sight. She yawned and stretched. She'd never felt as safe and secure as he made her feel that afternoon.

  The sun was on its way down, and she judged it to be late afternoon. Maddie didn't know how long she'd slept, but knew she slept soundly. She crawled out of bed, reaching for her clothes before reconsidering and pulling on a shirt from Rob's closet.

  After a quick stop at the bathroom, she wandered into the kitchen where she heard him talking on the phone. She stopped in the doorway to listen.

  "Hey, Fred, it's Coop. Yeah buddy, I'm fine. Listen, I'm not going to make it to Smoky's birthday bash tonight. No, nothing's wrong, I've just got some stuff going on. Give him my best, will you? Okay, I'll see you guys Monday. You bet. Bye." He hung up and went to the stove, where he was heating a wok.

  Maddie entered the kitchen. "Would that be a wok?"

  "Hey, gorgeous." Rob moved kissed her temple. "Sleep well?"

  "Very well. Must have been making up for the lack of sleep I got last night, tossing and turning in a frustrated puddle of perspiration."

  He laughed. "Oh yeah, I hear that. Same thing was going on over. Isn't it great knowing we're past that?"

  "Very great," she agreed, and looked at the stove. "Your wok is smoking."

  "Oh, shit!" He hopped back there and added some food to the hot oil. "Hope you like Chinese."

  "I do. But I've never had homemade Chinese before."

  "It's the best. Much less salty." He grimaced.

  She watched him cooking wearing nothing but jeans, unbuttoned at the waist. It was a pleasant sight. Finally she asked, "Might you have something to drink in that refrigerator?"

  "I do." He nodded, chopping vegetables and adding them to the wok. "Tea, water, and some pink bottles of an unrecognizable flavor of juice. Help yourself."

  "Thanks, Coop." She opened the fridge and peruse
d her choices. "Want anything?"

  "Whatever you're having." He smiled sheepishly as she handed him a bottled ice tea. "So you heard."

  "A bit. Didn't mean to eavesdrop."

  He shrugged. "No big deal."

  "Why didn't you tell me?" She took a sip from her bottle and watched his face.

  He shrugged again.

  "Who calls you Coop?"

  "Pretty much everybody, except my mother. She calls me Robert."

  "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked again.

  "Maybe I like the way you say my name. I especially like the way you said it today." He kissed her neck and imitated her voice. "Rob, oh Rob, yes Rob, yesssss!"

  "Are you making fun of me?"

  "Certainly not." He kissed her neck again. "I told you, I liked it. And I really liked the way you talked dirty to me. That put me through the roof."

  She crossed her arms. "I just don't understand how anyone can be quiet making love. I have to shout it out, halleluiah!"

  Chuckling, he returned to his steaming wok. "You've obviously never done it with your parents in the next room. That tends to shut you up pretty quickly. More of a 'get-r-done' type of thing."

  Maddie laughed. "No, I've never done that. I didn't have my 'sexual awakening' shall we say, until I was off to college."

  Rob poured rice into two bowls and topped it with the chicken and vegetable mixture he'd stir fried. He grabbed a couple of forks and napkins. "Bring the drinks. We'll eat out here on the back porch. It's cooler."

  She carried their teas and followed him outside. There were two Adirondack chairs with a table between them, and they each took a seat. Rob held his bowl in one hand to eat, and Maddie followed suit. "These chairs are comfortable."

  He smiled at her. "Yes they are. And I'll never look at them the same way again."

  She looked down at the way she sprawled out in the chair, with one foot tucked under her and the other kicked up on the footrest. He had a clear shot of her panty-less crotch. "Oh sheesh, I'm sorry." She lowered her feet.

  Rob reached out to her. "Put your feet back the way they were. Get comfortable. I was enjoying the view." He rubbed her knee, and she settled back in the way she was.

  He peeked between her legs, motioned for her to move one just a bit, then gave her the "OK" sign.

  Maddie rolled her eyes and ate. "This is good! I was already thinking you're the perfect man. Now to find out you can cook, too. Better watch out. Some woman's going to snatch you up."

  "Snatch me up, you say?" He looked between her legs again. "Um, yeah. I could go for that."

  "You are bad." She tossed a sprig of broccoli at him. It bounced off his shoulder and landed on the porch. "Oops, sorry." She crinkled her nose.

  "Not a problem." He wiped his shoulder with a napkin and called loudly, "Bo! Come on, Bo!"

  The dog bounded up the porch steps. He scarfed down the broccoli and nosed around for something else. Rob took a piece of chicken and tossed it in the air. Bo grabbed it and swallowed in one gulp. "Stick around, boy." He nodded toward Maddie "This one might be messier than Sophie."

  Bo took the hint, and lay down next to Maddie's chair.

  She dragged her hand through his soft fur. "He's a beauty."

  "Yep, a beauty," Rob agreed, never taking his eyes off Maddie. Finally, he set his bowl on the table and said, "Okay, you grilled me over lunch, so I get to grill you over dinner. Tell me the story of how a Connecticut Yankee wound up in Meridan, Oklahoma."

  Maddie scrunched up her face and shook her head. She placed her bowl on the table and wiggled her knee back and forth. "It's really boring. I can think of way more interesting things to do, can't you?"

  "I definitely can. I'm making a list in my head, in fact. But we still have twenty-some hours ahead of us, and I think that'll be enough time for most of my list."

  Maddie remembered his phone call. "Are you sure there isn't somewhere you'd rather be tonight? I don't want to keep you from anything."

  He shook his head. "There's nowhere I'd rather be tonight than in your arms. I hope you're going to stay."

  She nodded. "There's nowhere I'd rather be, either."

  "Excellent." He leaned back and smiled. "So start talking. You promised to tell me anything I wanted to know."

  She raised her hands and dropped them again. "Okay, whatever. Yes, I was born and raised a stuffy and repressed young woman in Hartford, Connecticut. The first chance I got to experience anything was in college, and I guess you could say I went a little nuts. I tried to do it all."

  "Where did you go to college?"

  She shook her head. "Back east. Doesn't matter."

  "I want to know," he insisted. "You promised."

  "Okay, Harvard."

  Rob's eyes grew wide and he leaned forward. "You went to Harvard?"

  She shrugged. "I told you, it was no big deal. I didn't graduate. I only stayed two years."

  "What was your major?"

  She smiled slyly. "Pre-law."

  He laughed and stomped his foot on the porch. "Oh my God! No wonder Kansas University sounded like small potatoes to you."

  She chuckled and shook her head, one last time. "Really, it was no big deal. I spent more time learning things from my roommate than I did from the professors. She offered courses in Watermelon Shooters and Sloe Gin Fizzes."

  "Oh my God," Rob repeated. "So this roommate was a girl?"

  "Yep." Maddie nodded. "Zoey. She taught me lots of things. Lots and lots of things."

  "Tell me three."

  "What?"

  "Tell me three things Zoey taught you in college. And make them good things, not like how to braid your hair."

  "Actually, Zoey did teach me how to do the French braid. It's a nice style, don't you think?"

  He shook his head. "We're not talking about your hair right now. We'll save that little fetish of mine for later. Three things."

  Maddie looked him over and decided to tell him some stuff. Test the waters again, so to speak. "Okay. First, she taught me how to roll a joint."

  "Useful. I'd ask you to demonstrate, but I gave up pot when Sophie was born. Go on."

  "Second, she taught me how to, shall we say, pleasure a man with my mouth."

  He choked on that one and took a sip of her tea because his was empty. "Even more useful. We may have to test that one out. Do I want to know how she taught you that little trick? Please tell me it was with a carrot."

  "We started with a carrot, and I graduated to her boyfriend, who did not mind being used as a test dummy for even one moment."

  Rob's face tightened. "That makes me kind of sad."

  She shrugged. "I told you, there was a lot of pot and booze involved. I probably don't remember most of it."

  He hesitated. "Can I ask you, were you ever tested—"

  She jumped in before he could finish. "Absolutely. Many times. I'm clean as a whistle. I would never do that to you, or to Sophie." Cute that he's worried about sexually transmitted diseases after we had sex.

  "Thank you. I'm clean too, just so you know. I believe you have one more thing to tell me."

  "I don't know. That last one creeped you out."

  "A little. I care about you. I want to protect you. And the thought of you stoned in some gang-banger-orgy makes me sick. And angry."

  "They're probably some of Wall Street's best and brightest right now. We all grow up, baby. Besides, there were never any orgies. There was one brief foray into lesbianism."

  He grinned. "Do I hear a number three coming on?"

  "Yeah, okay. We had some pretty good lesbian sex. Zoey knew how to pleasure a woman."

  "Oh, really?" He moved from his chair and on to hers. Wrapping himself around her, he whispered in her ear, "Any pointers you want to give me?"

  "You don't need any pointers, other than the lovely one you already have. Let me put it this way. I was a lousy lesbian. I have needs only a man can fulfill."

  Running his hands over her, he teased, "Are you sure? Anything you
want to tell me will be taken under serious advisement."

  "Good grief, no! You're the perfect man, babe."

  He squeezed her face in his hands. "You are the most amazing woman I've ever met. Totally honest, upfront, no holds barred. I love that about you."

  She shrugged. "If I can't be honest with you, what are we doing here?"

  "I know one thing we're doing here." He gazed into her eyes. "We're getting ready to make love again."

  Maddie grinned. "Want me to show you a couple of things Zoey taught me?" She slid off the chair and knelt in front of him.

  "Why not?" He leaned back, and raised his hips so she could slide his jeans off. "But keep your eyes open, so you'll know it's me."

  * * * *

  Maddie stretched out in Rob's big, claw-footed bathtub, her back to his chest.

  He washed her hair and any other body parts he could reach. "Remind me to thank Zoey, the next time we see her."

  Maddie laughed. "Where do you suppose we'll see her? Last I heard, she was backpacking through Europe with Milo, otherwise known as 'Mr. Hairy Ass'. Affectionately, of course."

  He shrugged. "We might run into her at some social function. Who knows? But then again, I hope we don't. I'm not ready to share you, and Zoey might try to turn you back to the dark side."

  Maddie snickered. "We've covered that ground, remember? I'm a lousy lesbian."

  "A fact for which I'll be eternally grateful."

  She leaned against him and sighed as his hands formed soapy circles on her stomach. "As long as my past doesn't bother you."

  He kissed her cheek. "It made you who you are today. I get a kick hearing about it. And, man, I love this hair." He pulled a strand of her long, wet hair through his lips and sucked on it.

  "I hope you used plenty of conditioner. Otherwise, you'll have a hard time brushing it out tomorrow."

  "I used enough. I look forward to brushing it out. It may even give me a hard-on."