Banjo Man (16 page)

“Oh, Rick.” Laurie’s eyelashes swept across her flushed cheeks as she tried to avoid his gaze.

What would he think of her? What would he think if she told him his very presence swept her into such a tingling passion she could hardly keep her hands off him. She loved being with him, loved loving him! Loved the feel of his body, its beauty and secrets. She’d felt no regrets, no fears, nothing but pure, unadulterated joy! It was a world removed from reality, too wonderful to allow for recriminations, too thrilling to allow looking back … or ahead.

“Rick,” she whispered in a voice so throaty and low that he had to bend his dark head closer, “I don’t want dinner. I want to go to bed with you!”

Her face turned bright scarlet.

Rick bit his bottom lip to restrain the husky shout of laughter that swelled in his chest. He couldn’t laugh; she was so damn serious! So wonderful … so incredibly special. Would he ever be able to anticipate Laurie O’Neill? To understand emotions so pure they nearly blinded him?

He shook his head slowly and kissed the top of her sweet-smelling hair, aware of both the lump in his throat and the painful tightening in his loins.

“Where to, sweet thing? Your place or mine?”

“Time to let the dog out,” Rick murmured across the soft mound of pillow, his breath tickling her cheek.

“I don’t have a dog,” Laurie purred, feeling the delight of his nearness even as she woke.

Rick stirred, slid one arm around her lovely, naked back, and drew her closer. Tucking his knees behind hers, he molded her gently and naturally into the curve of his body. Then he raised one heavy eyelid and squinted at the bright light that poured in the curtainless windows. “What is that horrible noise, darlin’?”

The insistent, muffled ringing finally registered on Laurie’s consciousness. She rolled over, burying her face in his shoulder. “Oh, it’s the phone … darn. It must be buried somewhere under the cushions. Rick, don’t you want to get it?” Then she heard what she had said, and shot straight up in bed. “No! No, don’t you get it;
I’ll
get it! Hold on, I’m coming.”

She swung her feet over the side and pulled the
top blanket from the bed, wrapping it around her. But she lingered yet; sliding one hand back over his chest, she twisted her fingers teasingly in the dark thatch of curly hair. “It’s morning, Banjo Man. How did it get to be morning so soon?”

“The phone, Laurie …?”

A tiny, contented smile touched her lips as she stood and glanced back over her shoulder at that gorgeous body sprawled across her bed. “Don’t go away, now.”

With one final tug that released the blanket from where it was tucked into a corner, she wandered across the room and picked up the phone.

Rick propped himself up on one elbow. The memory of their most recent lovemaking stirred him, and he watched her lazily, fantasizing about the slender, responsive body hidden under that lump of blanket. He imagined his hands gathering her rose-tipped breasts, tracing the curve of her waist, stroking her lovely naked flanks. “Ummmm …” He flung off the sheet and walked buck naked across the room to her.

Stepping up close behind her, he slipped his hands beneath the cover and touched her skin.

She wriggled against him, holding the phone between chin and shoulder, reaching up to push her fingers through his sleep-tousled hair. The blanket slid unnoticed to her feet.

He kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose and she tipped her head to one side, talking into the receiver as she offered her neck instead.

“Katy, is this what you woke me up for? You’re not talking sense. Of course I want to see you, and we’ll make some plans and—What?” He felt her stiffen. “What do you mean, ‘today’?” She gasped, spun, and pushed Rick away with a good, hard shove to the chest.

“Holy Christopher!”
she shouted with the gusto of a seasoned sailor.

Rick shrugged and flopped back onto the bed, folding his arms behind his head. He grinned to himself, glad that her Irish temper wasn’t aimed his way.

Laurie could barely control her voice, and she was gripping the phone as if to strangle it. “Katy, why didn’t you say this in the first place? This is absolutely the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done … and you’ve done your share! Don’t you know Daddy will have the Pope out looking for you! And what about Mother? She must be sick with worry. And, young lady, you’re not solving a solitary thing. Now, stop sniffling! Go sit in a corner of the bus station—and don’t talk to any strangers! I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

The slam of the phone was Rick’s signal to wipe the grin off his face. “Something wrong, darlin’?”

Laurie was already tearing through the one closet in the room, pulling out jeans and a sweater. Her brows formed ridges above her flashing eyes as she tugged on her clothes.

“I can’t believe she did that. I mean, can you believe it?” She shot Rick an exasperated glance but allowed no time for an answer.

“And there are two of them! Lordy! Can’t you just see my father’s face?” She ran her fingers quickly through her hair, grabbed her purse, and headed for the door. “Oh!” She spun around, remembering. “Rick …?”

Rick had decided minutes before that he rather liked his place in the twilight zone; it seemed relatively safe. Now he rolled onto one lean hip and drawled seductively. “That’s me. The guy in the bed … alone …lonely as hell.”

Laurie melted inside. Lips in a pout, she looked down at him longingly. “Oh, I do wish I could join
you, but”—she sighed—“instead I have a favor to ask. Two, actually.”

One thick brow lifted slowly.

“May I please borrow the keys to your Jeep for an hour or so?”

“Sure.” He reached over to the small table beside the sofa bed and tossed the heavy ring to her. “And the second, darlin’?”

Laurie nibbled on her bottom lip and started backing out the door. “Well, Rick, I, ah … Could you be out of here in thirty minutes … twenty-five, maybe?”

She threw him a wisp of a smile and disappeared. The door slammed behind her.

The phone was ringing wildly as she walked back into the apartment with the two teenagers in tow; she had known it would be.

Laurie threw her purse on the chair and glared at her younger sister. “It’s him, you know. Your father!”

Katy O’Neill looked neither frightened nor surprised. She tossed her head, and her uncontrollable chestnut-red curls flew about her face. She was as lovely as her sister, but with a rebellious twinkle in her eyes that turned heads and caused parental ulcers.

“Laurie, Dad will believe anything you tell him; you know that. Nuns, even ex-nuns, don’t lie. Tell him … tell him you
needed
me.” She grinned over at her pixielike friend. “Right, Heather? I mean, we’re not bad company.”

When the phone finally stopped ringing, the silence that followed was anything but soothing.

Laurie stared at the two young girls. Her anger returned full force, having been softened only temporarily by the irresistible joy of seeing her
younger sister. She’d always had a special affection for Katy, maybe because Katy always did exactly what she pleased, all the things Laurie would have given her eyeteeth to do, but could never quite pull off. Responsibility and other people’s expectations always steered her right back onto the straight-and-narrow path, before her toes had ever felt the thrill of unorthodox soil.

This latest antic, though, was just plain stupid.

“You can’t expect to stay here with me, girls. You’re only eighteen! Good grief, you need to get back to college, to graduate, to—”

“From Holy Family College?” Katy groaned mournfully. “Laurie, do you have any idea what it’s like out there? I mean, all the young nuns go to school there, too, and we have the
same rules.
It’s worse than a—” She blushed, but stubbornly finished her sentence. “A convent! And I’m no nun.”

Laurie sighed, torn between sympathy and annoyance. “It’s your own fault, Katy. You could have gone somewhere else, if you’d just studied a little in high school. But you didn’t, and Mom and Daddy thought this would be good for you, because … well, because you’d get more attention there. More—”

Her voice floundered to a stop. She did not want to be lecturing her sister, sounding like her parents or some prim Mother Superior. She knew Katy hated the small college, and honestly couldn’t blame her. It was a good school, but not for someone with the rebellious spirit of Katy O’Neill. To Katy, it must feel like a prison.

She stood silently in the middle of the floor, the morning sunlight dappling her face.

“Hey, Laurie, your hair looks really nice!” Heather offered, her voice light as a bird’s chirp. “I thought it would be, well, kind of jagged, you know, like you cut it with pinking shears.”

Laurie’s laughter broke the tension.

Like a kid let out of the principal’s office, Katy flew across the room and hopped onto the unmade sofa bed. She glanced at the tangle of sheets. “You sure are a restless sleeper, sis! This bed looks like it went through quite a struggle. Heather, come on, let’s be good houseguests and help Laurie straighten up.”

Laurie felt her cheeks burn. Turning away, she hurried into the kitchen. Little did Katy know what had gone on in that bed! It was a delicious secret.

The only disappointment was having had to chase Rick Westin out of her bed at six o’clock in the morning. She had grown to love these mornings.

But this was no time to get all hot and bothered again!

Cooling her face in the refrigerator’s chill interior, she pulled out a carton of eggs, butter, and milk. In minutes the eggs were scrambled and the smell of fresh coffee filled the room.

“First off, ladies,” Laurie called into the other room, “we are going to eat breakfast. Then I’m going to call the office and say I’ll be late. And
then
, I hope before Daddy calls again, we’re going to figure out how to handle this mess!”

To everyone’s incredulity, William O’Neill didn’t call again, and Laurie soon left for work, promising the girls tickets to a fantastic banjo show that night if they behaved themselves and left the sights of Washington in one piece. And, she insisted, by the time she returned, she wanted a complete list of buses going back to Pittsburgh!

“ ’Morning, Laurie,” Paula greeted her as she staggered in the door shortly before noon with her arms full of reports.

“Oh, Paula, I’m so sorry I’m late, but you wouldn’t believe how badly this day has started!”

Paula laughed at Laurie’s distraught look. “So I hear! And how is your sister? I thought you’d take the day off to show her the sights. You’ve got time coming.”

Laurie’s mouth dropped open. “Now, how in heaven’s name did you know my sister was in town? I didn’t mention it when I called. The office grapevine amazes me!”

“Not the grapevine this time, I’m afraid; your father called the senator this morning.”

“He what?” Laurie blanched, reaching out to the edge of the desk to steady herself.

“Yes, and he seemed mighty upset. Why, he scolded
me
, can you imagine? He seems to think you shouldn’t have invited Katy here.”

“Invited her?” Laurie’s blood began to slow boil.

“Well, yes, that’s what he said. And I can some-what understand his point, dear. It’s hard for young people to catch up on their studies. Maybe you could have waited until spring break; it’s not far off.”

Laurie’s head was spinning. She could just hear her father explaining to Senator Murphy how faulty his older daughter tended to be in her judgment. Imagine, inviting Katy to take off for the big city. Another mistake made by dear, naive Laurie. But then, she was inexperienced, sweet child. Fragile, not intended for the big, bad world. Perhaps the senator could wisely advise her on this matter.

Bitter tears stung Laurie’s eyes. This was more than she could handle.

She didn’t even know whom to aim her anger at: her father, the senator for listening, or Katy and Heather for making up such a ridiculous story!

“Paula”—she ground out her words through
clenched teeth—“I think I’ll take you up on your suggestion and spend a little time with my sister. I have a sneaking suspicion she might need close surveillance until I can get her on the first bus back to Pittsburgh! Here”—she dumped the papers on Paula’s desk—“these are the reports the senator will be looking for.”

Paula ignored the papers, her voice full of concern. “Laurie, you seem upset.”

“Paula, what you see is not ‘upset.’ It’s angry! I don’t mean to take it out on you, but I could just scream. I’m not—no, I am
not
—going to let people push me around and manipulate my life. No, sir, no more. If my father calls again, tell him I’m meeting with the President and cannot be disturbed!”

The flurry of air from her exit sent the papers fluttering to the floor. “Oh, well,” a very confused Paula murmured to the empty office as she took off her glasses and wiped them gently, “Mondays aren’t terrific, even at the best of times.”

Laurie walked for eight blocks before she cooled down. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her tailored coat and explored the cracks in the sidewalk with great precision. At least
they
were relatively straight; you couldn’t say that about anything else in her life right now!

And by the time she had circled the Washington Monument three times, she knew it wasn’t just Katy and her father that had her mind and heart Indian-wrestling with each other. It was Rick. Her banjo man had woven such a romantic web around her that she had forgotten there was a real world out there: her parents, her family, her past, and her future. Oh, he had woven himself right into the very fabric of her being, and he was stuck there—right at the heart of her. Pull him out and something
would surely break. But she had reality to deal with also.

She sighed, and then she noticed the little green spikes of grass poking their way up along the path, and the warm breeze lifting her hair. She realized suddenly that it wouldn’t be long until spring arrived in full bloom—her first spring as Laurie O’Neill,
woman.

The thought brought a soft glow to her face and helped soothe the churning inside her. Now if she could just get all the wrinkles ironed out of her life, it would certainly be a spring to remember.