Blooming (19 page)

“I’ve got
boxers on.”

She thrust
her chin up in the air and left him there anyway, “that’s no excuse,” she
cursed surreptitiously under her breath and stomped off.

Todd sank
back on the bed befuddled, not a feeling he was used to.

Jen threw
herself on the couch and tugged the blanket hanging over the back onto her
body. Tomorrow she was going to start taking some initiative.

****

Neither one
of them slept much that night. Todd had just about fallen asleep as dawn broke
and he awoke with a start to the sound of his bedroom door slamming open. As
his eyes blinked into focus he registered Jen throwing off her pyjama’s, top
first then bottoms, next thing she whisked her underwear off and scattered it
to the four corners of the room, her bra landing perilously close to his ear.

Bending over
more enticingly than she probably intended, she scooped the catering size pack
of saran wrap out of her travel bag and slammed the door to the en suite
bathroom.

Todd leapt out of bed and
tried to get in the door behind her but she was too fast and the lock slammed
home.

He banged on
the door angrily, “What the fuck is the matter?”

“Go away
Todd, I’m getting washed and I don’t need your help, I suggest you go use
somebody else’s bathroom it’s going to take me a while because I’m washing my
hair.”

“Don’t be
ridiculous let me help you.”

“I’m done being
an invalid Todd, you’re the only one round here who wants to treat me like
one.”

The sound of
the shower drowned out his cursed answer as she bundled up her arm to keep it
dry and then struggled to get washed one handed gritting her teeth in grim determination.

Luckily he
was nowhere to be seen when she’d finished in the bathroom and she got dressed
quickly in clothes Sean had picked out for her, cute white shorts and a red and
white checked sleeveless blouse.

She roughly
towel dried her hair and picked up a brush and comb and set off to see where
everybody was.

Jen knocked
and entered the main cabin and found all the guys eating breakfast, the delicious
smell of bacon and eggs scenting the air.

“Morning Jen,
sleep well?” Ben asked

“Not
particularly,” she replied giving Todd a sneaky glance, he was pretending to
have a great fascination with his eggs. When she noticed Ben’s plate was empty
she decided to wreak a little mischief.

“Is Lily not
up yet?” Jen asked, “No, she and Bernie like to lie in when they come up here.”
Marshall bent to give her a kiss on the cheek and placed a full plate in front
of her. “I’m on cooking duties this morning so its man sized portions,” he
joked.

Todd’s
fingers were gripping his cutlery a little too tight at his dad’s easy
familiarity with her, and Jen intended to push him a step further, “Ben would
you mind combing my hair out for me, it’s a two handed job and I can’t quite
manage it?”

Ben gave a
nod towards Todd, but Jen ignored it, “Todd’s busy eating, you’re the only one
that’s finished.”

Todd looked
like he wanted to spit nails but Ben gamely shot her a knowing look and came to
stand behind her while she tried to casually eat her eggs, picking up the bacon
with her fingers.

Marshall
looked fit to burst with laughter as he registered the game being played out
and she gave a great show of enjoying the process of Ben gently brushing out
her hair, sighing happily and tilting her head side to side as he untangled the
thick wet curls.

Todd was
stewing, he was well aware what she was up to, it didn’t make it any easier
watching Ben’s crotch so close to the back of Jen’s head, her tipping that
pretty neck up for him, smiling at him.

He growled
silently to himself when Ben finally finished. Thank god for that, if that’s
the way she wanted to play he had a few ideas himself!

****

Nobody seemed
to have a plan set out for the day; Sean and Seb were sunning themselves laid
out on towels on the dock. Ben and Lily were puttering up and down in a little
rowboat. Marshall and Todd were nowhere to be seen and Jen had retreated to the
porch swing of her cabin to work on her laptop. Truth is she was feeling a
little bad about getting all bent out of shape and was missing Todd’s constant company.
Jen had secretly grown a little addicted to it.

She heard a
gentle cough - Bernie was there trying to get her attention without startling
her.

“Hi, you’re out
here on your own?”

Jen nodded.

“Can I join
you for a while?”

“Of course,”
said Jen lying through her teeth.

“I just
wanted to make sure you were ok, being here with all of us - it can be a bit
overwhelming?”

“I’m fine
honestly, it’s a beautiful place to be,” she hesitated before admitting, “I’m
quite surprised by how comfortable I do feel.”

“My son has a
real knack for choosing property,” Bernie smiled, looking about her with pride.

“Todd found
this place for you?”

“Todd bought
this place, well it was a plot of land at the time and then he had the cabins
built. He wanted some place we could all have holidays but not be too far from
home, he fell in love with the views and the feel of the space, I think we all
did.”

“Wow I’m
starting to wonder when Todd will stop surprising me; surely he can’t have made
so much money from boxing and a short stint at modelling?”

“He’s
obviously not bothered to tell you just how good he was, at both! After that
was all behind him he bought a couple of small investment properties. He’s very
gifted at spotting potential, nurturing it and earning a return from it. And
it’s not that he’s really interested in money or possessions, it just pleases
him and he likes to spoil his family. This place is his dream, somewhere for
his family and friends to spend time together, he’s so damn organised he
already jokes about his plans to retire here one day!”

“I’m not the right
person for somebody like Todd,” Jen startled herself and then stupid tears
formed in her eye corners, Bernie leaned over and took her hand squeezing
gently.

“What do you
mean?”

“I can’t make
him happy, I have a hard time getting myself through the day and I don’t want
him to have to cope with that.”

“Maybe you
just need to let Todd decide what’s right for him honey.”

 “I feel
stupid I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, he has my head in a funk all the
time and then I was a total witch to him last night after you’d all gone to bed
because I was so confused.”

“Do you know
why?” Bernie smiled at her warmly.

“No,” Jen
said cautiously.

“Sexual
frustration pure and simple, it doesn’t just affect men you know.”

“Er ok, I’m
not sure I’m ready to discuss this with you.”

“Definitely,
listen Marsh was a boxer too when I first met him and he was a big believer in
the whole abstaining while training for a big fight. I tell you the random
arguments and four letter screaming matches we had on a regular basis turned
the air blue.”

She smiled at
Jen’s discomfort, “Todd thinks he’s doing the right thing by you, who knows
maybe he is? I’m guessing you’ve not slept together yet.”

Jen blushed
crimson, “I can’t have this conversation with you; do you really want to talk
about your son’s sex life?” she was astonished at Bernie’s candour.

“No, but he’s
in his thirties and all he really wants to achieve anymore is to be someone’s husband
and someone’s father. There’s not been a single genuine woman so far that has
come close to the impact you’ve had, particularly in such a short time and if
you’ve not even slept together yet then, well I can only imagine.” She trailed
off the end of the sentence and lifted her arms in a shrug letting Jen come to
her own conclusions.

The two sat
for a minute in silence, Jen’s brain working overtime.

“Bernie do
you think you could you help me with something personal? I’ve no-one else I can
really ask.” Jen squirmed in her seat.

“Sure honey
what?”

“I need to
make an appointment with a doctor an ob-gyn I guess, there’s something I kind
of need to sort out.”

Bernie
smiled, “Leave it with me, I’ll try and get you in tomorrow, we’ll have a
girlie road trip back home to Lexington if Lily’s up to it, there’s a brilliant
ob-gyn there.”

Jen breathed
out a sigh of relief and felt such a rush of affection for Bernie that the
tears from earlier trickled out without warning, and she missed her own mom so
much in that moment she couldn’t speak.

Bernie pulled
her to her feet and gave her a fierce hug. “Thank you for being there for my
daughter, and for what you did in the restaurant. Whatever happens or doesn’t
with Todd, Marsh and I will always be here for you honey, always remember that
please.” She kissed her on the forehead and grinned, “Now why don’t you go see
if you can track Todd down while I make some calls.

Try the gym
first it’s over there.” She gave her a little shove in the right direction.

The gym was
more like an outhouse set back among the trees, tucked out of sight. As Jen
approached she wasn’t sure whether she was ready to talk to Todd yet but if it
wasn’t him out here, then somebody was making one hell of a racket.

Jen made a
quick recon round the building before coming across the open door. She glanced
inside and stifled a gasp, tucking herself behind the door frame she peeked
back inside.

Todd was
stood bare-chested and bare footed, his face a picture of stern concentration.
Light grey sweatpants were slung perilously low on his hips; he was drenched in
sweat, hair plastered to his scalp. He circled the punch bag, gloves flying
furiously in vicious one two’s, muscles bunching and flexing all over the
place.

As he circled
back round she caught the glorious view from the rear. Broad creamy shoulders
tapering down to a trim waist and slim hips, every muscle and sinew pumped and
flexed, god the muscles the man had in his butt were outrageous.

Unexpected
heat spread through Jen’s loins and sizzled upwards, talk about sex on a stick.
He stopped for a second and swiped his hair back with his forearm, with his
back still to her he said. “You just gonna watch or you want to help me get
these gloves off?”

Busted, she
cursed to herself before muttering nervously, “I guess I can help.” She
approached tentatively barely resisting the urge to downright ogle him.

Todd pulled
the laces undone with his teeth and then closed the distance between them towering
over her, his face was fixed, tense, but his green eyes blazed.

Grabbing her a
little roughly he shoved one gloved hand in the curve of her underarm and
chest, “pull,” he demanded. Squeezing his hand she pulled backwards never
looking away from his eyes and his hand came out with a pop.

He turned his
back and took his other glove off.

“You look a
bit anxious Jennifer; do you have something on your mind, feeling a little
repentant perhaps?”

“Maybe a tiny
bit,” she bit her lip stifling a smirk.

“Hmm me too –
something on my mind for starters,” he paused, “I’m going to burn those fleece
pyjamas.”

She laughed,
“I think Sean may have beaten you to it, I showed them to him this morning and
he looked like I’d offered him a poop sandwich.”

A laugh
barked out of him but he still didn’t turn around, instead he hung his gloves
up, and got a skipping rope from a hook on the wall.

The scent of
Todd pervaded the air, a little sweaty, but clean sweat so overtly masculine
& mixed with whatever aftershave or deodorant made him smell like limes
& salt spray. Jen felt her adrenaline spiking along with her heart rate as
she waited to see what his next move would be. When the jitters got the better
of her she backed away and sat on her butt in the corner.

“Are you
intending to keep up with this little show for me?”

“Oh definitely;
this is payback for you letting Ben have hair sex with you this morning.”

“Excuse me,”
she choked “did you just invent that term?”

“Just telling
it like it is, you were cheating on me and you know it. It looks pretty by the
way, I think I like wild and curly better, suits your character more.”

Todd began
skipping on the spot and Jen was in trouble, this was so much better than
watching all the Rocky training montages back to back. This was sound, smell
and vision. He sped up the pace and yep there he did that thing, spinning the
rope two handed side to side and jumping back into it, the rope and his feet
flying. A thin trickle of sweat slid down his abdomen and disappeared into his
navel. God what was wrong with her, she wanted to lick him.

The luscious
picture he presented had her flushed, heat and moisture began to pool between
her thighs and her nipples peeked through her thin lacy bra and shirt. Jen’s
lips parted unintentionally and she began fidgeting restlessly, her hands
shifting up and down her legs.

“Can I join
in? I can’t go that fast but I used to love skipping as a kid.”

“Sure, can
you jump in?”

She leapt to
her feet in delight, Todd studied her with narrowed eyes while he slowed and
jumped on the spot. Jen ducked her head a few times getting a feel for his
rhythm, and then tucking her bad arm into her chest she jumped in and bounced
in place next to him.

“Cripes this
is harder than I remembered,” she puffed a minute later. Her face was alight
and Todd felt like his must look exactly the same, “You’re telling me,” Todd
muttered as her breasts bounced in front of him.

“I’ve been
hula hooping lately to keep fit,” Jen puffed, “I can’t do it at the moment of
course.” Then she tripped and fell into his chest and he pulled her to him in a
tangle of ankles and jump rope.