Do Not Disturb (12 page)

"Maybe. But it sounds good, don't you
think?"

"Another round?" Nancy the bartender
interrupted the mood.

"Yes. But put them in plastic cups and bring
our bill, please." He scooped a few nuts from the bowl.

"What are you planning now?" Allison
nervously looked at her watch. "We don't have long before the girls will
be expecting us."

"Thanks, Nancy." He threw cash on the
bar, picked up the beers and hopped off his stool. "Follow me."

They weaved through the throng that now packed the
bar. He led her down a short hall near the game room, then backed into the exit
door at the end of the hall and turned to Allison. "After you." He
held the door open with his body.

"This goes outside." She stuck her head
out the door. Bushy trees flanked the concrete walk and although it was dark,
she could see the swimming pool a few yards ahead.

He ushered her through the door. "We'll just
sit our here for a few minutes. It's quieter."

"And windy and cool." Allison wrapped
her arms around her shivering body.

"It's not that bad." He dragged two pool
recliners close together and up against the bushes, sat down and motioned to
the other chair. "Hardly any wind here."

She crawled onto the chair abutted to Brett's and
took the beer from his hands. "Just for a few minutes. Then we need to get
back inside."

He nodded. "Sure. But it's nice to be alone.
Even for a few minutes." He rotated his head toward her, resting his cheek
on the chair webbing. "Isn't it?"

Twisting her body toward him, her face stopped
inches from his lips. His gray eyes sparkled in the lights streaming from the
hotel rooms surrounding the pool.

"Yes."

Just as his mouth touched hers, a gust of wind
whipped through the pool area, followed by rain.

"What?" They jumped out of the chairs
and ran to the hotel door. A metal overhang projecting over the concrete walk
protected them from drowning.

The looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"It's hopeless." He hugged her quickly.
"I guess we'll get the girls and head back to the room for a movie.

She tipped her head up and kissed him
passionately. "It was a nice thought." She let him go and opened the
door.

"Wow." He caught up and nuzzled her ear.
"Is that what I can expect Friday night on our date?"

"You'll have to wait and see."

They stopped at the entrance to the game room and
grimaced. The girls were indistinguishable in the mass of youth.

"Do you want to go in or shall I?" Brett
asked, a pained look on his face.

"You go. You're taller and can breathe above
the crowd." Allison snatched his beer out of his hand and gave him a shove
with her elbow. "Good Luck."

#

Kelly and Caroline, having memorized the movie
listings during their afternoon tour of the hotel room, ran to the television,
ready to watch.

"Let's watch Bad News Bears - The
Championship Game." Kelly suggested.

"Aren't those kids a little too old to be
playing ball now?" Allison groaned. "How long ago was that first
movie anyway?"

"I don't know." Kelly clicked on the
television and began punching the channel selector. "I watched the
original on cable reruns."

"Let me see what other choices we have."
Brett picked up the movie guide. "Ummmmm. I think we may have to select
another movie."

He walked over to Allison, holding out the guide
and pointing to the movie listings. "Here's their choice. What do you
think, mom?"

Allison's eyes grew wide as she read the write-up.
"See the local temp agency's nude girl's baseball team battle the boys
from across town for the trophy. Starring porn queen, Babs, as the pitcher.
‘Bad News Bares - The Championship Game’ - Rated XXX."

"I knew they were too old to still be
playing." Allison took the listing. "We'll need to find another
movie."

"But, Mom." Kelly moaned.
"Why?"

"Kelly." Allison tried to maintain a
straight face. "You obviously didn't read about the movie, did you?"

"Well..." Kelly screwed up her face and
shrugged. "Not really."

"It's rated X." Allison scanned the
listings, avoiding Brett's eyes. "Several Xs actually."

Both girls giggled as they jumped off the end of
the bed and ran to Allison. "Let us see."

Allison rolled over to the other side of the bed.
"I think the adults will be selecting the movie tonight. Brett, what do
you want to see?"

He started laughing.

She snapped her head up, trying to look dignified
and motherly, but couldn't control her smile.

"You're no help." The smile grew to a
grin as she walked around the end of the bed and picked up the remote control.

"Obviously, I'm the only adult left here.
So..." She ran through the channels until she found an innocent movie and
selected it. "There. Now we're ready." She placed her hands on her
hips. "If all you children will take your places, the movie will begin in
a few minutes."

Kelly and Caroline scrambled to the head of one of
the double beds, settling in next to each other. Brett leaned back against the
headboard of the other bed, legs stretched out in front of him, patting the bed
next to him. "Come on and sit down, mom. We'll behave."

She narrowed her eyes and considered. Should she
sit next to Brett, where she wanted to be. Or should she sit on the floor or
that hard chair on the other side of the room?

"Sit down Mom. You’re in our way." Kelly
waved her mother away from the television, indicating her toward the bed.

"All right, I'm going." She moved
tentatively to where Brett sat waiting and sat on the opposite edge, placing
one leg on the mattress, leaving the other one on the floor. Crossing her arms,
she sat up straight. If she sat way over here and didn’t touch him, she guessed
it’d be all right.

She felt Brett's eyes on her, but refused to look
his way. The girls, engrossed in the action on the screen, ignored Allison and
Brett.

"Relax," he whispered, lowering his left
shoulder toward her. "We aren't doing anything wrong."

She froze. Aren't we? We're sitting on a bed
together in a hotel room. With the girls in the same room.

Allison sighed. Maybe Brett was right. It was
healthy for Kelly to see how to act properly around a man. But was this proper?

Being a single parent sure was difficult.

"Can we turn the light off, Dad? It's in our
eyes." Caroline looked around Kelly to her father.

He reached up and switched off the bedside light.
"Better?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Caroline sat back.
"Oh no. Watch that, Kelly."

She was being silly. This was really no different
than sitting on the couch with him. She pulled her other leg off the floor and
tucked it in under her thigh.

Brett slid his hand over the bedspread and placed
it over hers. With the television barely lighting the room, she could only feel
his hand squeezing her fingers. It reminded her of the teenagers sneaking in
church when she was growing up, sitting on the back row and holding hands
underneath crossed arms.

And she was still sneaking. This was ridiculous.
She was not a teenager anymore.

She dropped her right shoulder slightly, letting
it hit the side of Brett's arm. He made the smallest move with his arm,
resulting in it lining up with her and allowing him to hold her hand tighter.

The electricity shot between their bodies as they
sat in silence, pretending to watch the movie. It almost felt like they were
married. A family.

What it would be like to be married to someone who
cared about her career? What she wanted. Would he understand and tolerate the
demands as she moved up in a company after he’d walked away from it all? Or
would he resent her long hours? The days she’d be late.

At least now she only had Kelly to think about and
plan for. No one else to involve with her decisions. And no one else to talk
over her problems, she reminded herself.

But, there was no need to worry about it...

"Allison. Wake up." Her arm was shaking.
Opening her eyes, she saw the outline of Brett’s head against the pale light
streaming around the curtains.

Allison bolted upright when she realized she was
still on the bed with Brett. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close.

“Be quiet. The girls are asleep.”

She looked around him to the other bed. Kelly and
Caroline hidden under the covers and the television dark. Glancing at the
bedside table, Allison saw it was 3:00am. She couldn’t believe she fell asleep
on the bed with Brett.

She tried to slide off the bed, but Brett held her
in place. “Let go,” she whispered. “I need to...”

“I’ll move to the sofa. Allison. You stay here.”

“But...”

“Relax, darling. When they wake up in the morning,
they’ll think I was on the sofa all night.”

How did he know what she was thinking? And what to
say to make her feel better? She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thanks.
I hope you won’t be too uncomfortable.”

He whispered in her ear, his beard rough against
her cheek. “It won’t be as soft and warm as over here, but being this close to
you in the dark is a little too tempting for me anyway. And my self-control is
almost at the breaking point now.”

“Go.” She put her hand on his chest. “And maybe
you’d better think about the stock market or something else not
so...so...sexual.”

“I’ll try, but it’s not easy with you laying over
here. When I’d rather be -”

She gave him a gentle shove and he slipped off the
edge of the bed, barely catching his balance. She covered her mouth to smother
a giggle.

#

The sound of running water woke Allison the next
morning. She shook her head, trying to remember where she was. Sitting up, she
noticed empty blankets on the sofa and the girls still under the covers.

She dropped back on the bed. A vision of Brett
naked in the shower popped in her mind. She visualized almost all of him. His
lean, muscled shoulders and chest. His long legs. Water dripping off each part
of his body. Yes, she knew what almost all of him looked like and could almost
imagine the rest.

Her lower body tingled. Suddenly the water
stopped. He must be reaching for his towel now, drying his back, moving over
his stomach.

She covered her head with the bedspread and
squinted her eyes tighter, the ache in her body intensifying with her mental
show. Was he dressing now?

The door to the bathroom clicked. She froze under
the blanket. If they were alone, he could crawl between the sheets and -.

She jumped as the bedspread pealed off her head.
The top of Brett’s hand ran along her cheek. She turned her face up and saw him
grinning, his mouth hovering above hers.

“The bathroom’s free,” he whispered. “Want me to
start the shower for you?”

She shook her head, sliding away from Brett to the
edge of the bed and out of the covers. She drew her t-shirt down over her
shorts and stood up, tip-toeing around the end of the bed toward the bathroom.
She rounded the corner with Brett following her. She twirled around in the
doorway and he moved into her body, capturing her in a tight embrace.

“Brett.” Allison wiggled, but he held on tighter.

“Hold still,” he growled. “It’ll be hours before
we’re alone again and I’m not waiting that long to hold you.”

When he leaned in to kiss her, she slipped her
hand between their mouths.

“I need to brush my teeth.”

“I don’t care—“ he protested.

“Brett...”

He drove her into the bathroom with his body, not
releasing her. Picking up a small bottle of complimentary mouthwash, he screwed
off the top behind her back. Holding it on one hand, he pressed it against her
lips. “Open up.”

She cracked her lips and he poured in a few drops
of mouthwash.

Rotating her body in his arms, he positioned her
over the sink. He turned on the water and waited.

She stared at him in the mirror, her mouth full of
the minty liquid. He grinned, his eyebrows arched.

“Are you done yet?”

She leaned over the sink and rinsed her mouth.
This man was crazy. 

He pulled her back around to face him, one hand on
her neck and the other on the waist. “Good morning, darling.” He kissed her
urgently, wasting no time for softness or seduction.

She melted, her body already humming from the
naked shower scene images. It was hard to remember their daughters were in the
other room and that they needed to be careful. It was hard to think about
anything but this sexy man kissing her.

Suddenly, he leaned back. “We’d better stop or
I’ll need another shower.” He kissed her forehead and backed slowly out of the
bathroom. “Only a few more days and we won’t have to stop.”

As the door clicked shut Allison sat down on the
edge of the tub. Her knees shook and goose bumps covered her skin. What would
it feel like to have those lips all over body?

Ten minutes away from Tampa, Allison closed the
top of her laptop with a snap. "There. First draft is done."

"So you'll still make your thesis deadline,”
Brett asked, “even with this little hurricane break?"

She nodded, the muscles in her stomach relaxing.
"If I don't have any more emergencies, I should be able to send it out before
the holidays." She leaned back against the headrest. "Thanks for
giving me peace and quiet this morning. It really helped."

"A lot can be accomplished with a little ‘do
not disturb’ sign when you have children." Brett rubbed his chin.
"Yeah. Maybe that's what we need."

Allison whipped her head in Brett's direction.
"What?" she whispered.

He motioned for her to lean closer. "You
know. For us to finally get some privacy." He grinned. "Our own ‘do
not disturb’ sign." He laughed as he turned the truck into Allison's
neighborhood. “That’s what we need.”

Kelly and Caroline stuck their heads between the
front seats. "What do you need, Dad?"

"See what I mean?" he asked.

Allison clutched the dash as they neared her
house. "Oh my god." She leaned forward in her seat. "Our
house."

"Mom. It's a tree." Kelly pointed across
her mother's shoulder. "On the garage."

"I see, Kelly. I see."

"Stay here.” Brett stopped in front of the
house and opened his door. “Let me check for power lines."

"What are we going to do, Mom?"

"I don't know, sweetie. I don't know."
Allison patted her daughters hand that lay on her shoulder. "But don't
worry. We'll solve it." How would she solve it? And work? And get Kelly
back in school? And...

"Come on out, Allison. It's safe."

Warm humid air coated her face as Brett opened the
car door. She dropped her legs out of the vehicle.

They walked slowly up the debris strewn drive,
stopping a few feet from the edge of what used to be her garage door. The
middle of a large palm tree lay on the trunk of her car, the top fronds crushed
against the underside portion of the garage roof still standing.

"My car. My house.” Tears brimmed in the back
of Allison's throat. “What am I going to do?" Her voice was low and
strained.

Brett put his arms around her as she started to
shake. "Let's get inside." He towed her toward the front door.
"I'll come back out and check the damage later. We need to be sure the
back of the house is okay."

Panic hit Allison. "The back. I didn't even
think about the back. What if it's blown away? I have all those trees."
She ran out of his arms and up the steps. Scrambling in her purse, she searched
for her keys. Her trembling hands unlocked the front door and she raced inside.

Dashing from room to room, she checked windows and
doors. Brett followed, stopping her as she reached for the garage door.

"Don’t." He held her hand still on the
knob. "I'll go in there later." He pulled her to the couch. "Sit
for a minute. I'll be right back."

Voices drifted from the back of the house, but couldn’t
distinguish the words. The blood rushed in her head and her stomach roiled. She
had to solve this. She needed to find her insurance papers. She needed to...Oh
god, she didn't have time to...

As Brett sat down, the sofa cushion raised,
pushing Allison against his side. "The girls are in Kelly's room. I told
them we needed a few minutes to sort things out."

She nodded.

"I know it looks bad, Allison, but it really
isn't. Only the corner of the garage needs to be repaired and your car looks
like it only has a little damage on one side."

She nodded.

“First thing tomorrow I'll call the insurance
company and get someone out here to look it over. Then I'll arrange for the
repairs to the garage."

She edged back. "No. You can't do all that.
It's my responsibility."

"But you have to work." He placed a
finger on her lips. "And I have a more flexible schedule. Remember?"

"But -"

"No arguments." Brett cupped the side of
her face with his hand. "Let me help, darling. I want to."

"I know I shouldn't depend on you,” her head
drooped to her chest, “but I just can't do everything."

"You could. You always have. You just don't
need to." He brushed stray curls out of her face. "That's the
difference."

She nodded then sat back up abruptly. "I
don't have a way to get to work."

"You can keep the Range Rover until your
car's fixed. I have another car."

"You finished refurbishing the Thunderbird
already?"

"I wish." Brett laughed. "No. I
have the car I brought down from Virginia. I got the Range Rover after I moved
here."

"Are you sure?" She placed a hand on his
chest. “I can rent a car."

"Don't be ridiculous. I can't drive two
vehicles at the same time." Brett stood up, dragging her with him. He
kissed her on the end of her nose. "Feel better now?"

"I guess. But I'm not sure how I'll feel when
we go out in the garage. Or when I find out how much this is all going to
cost."

"Let's get your insurance papers, reassure
the girls everything's under control, and then I guess we'd better check my
house."

"Oh, Brett. Your place." She clutched
his arms. "I forgot. How selfish of me. We need to hurry over there. It
may be worse than mine."

"I'm sure it's fine. There aren't many trees
on the lot. And, besides, I have renter's insurance if there are
problems."

"Brett." She slipped her arms around his
waist. "Thanks for being here for me." Tilting her face up, she
kissed him gently on each side of his mouth and then softly on the lips.
"And being so calm. I'm not usually this frazzled, it's just the audit at
work, my thesis and -"

"That's what friends are for." He kissed
her briefly. "Let's go girls. One more house to check on."

#

The next afternoon Allison parked the Range Rover
near the curb. Brett stood at the corner of the garage, near stacks of tree
limbs. The yard was clean, so he’d obviously worked all day, but his clothes
were fresh. The visions of Brett naked in the shower popped back in Allison's
head, causing her whole body to warm up at least five degrees.

Why did she keep doing that?

He grinned and waved as she stepped out of the truck.

He looks so good, Allison thought, walking toward
him. She wanted to throw him on the grass. Thank him. Kiss him. And a few other
things she hadn't thought about for a long time. Things preying on her mind all
the time now.

"What?" Brett asked, crossing his arms
over his chest.

"Nothing." Allison smiled, remembering
the new underwear she’d bought at lunch. She’d never spent such a fortune on
underwear. But then, she’d never planned a night with a man like Brett.

"What are you thinking, Allison?"

"You'll find out Friday night." She ran
her fingertips up his arm, across his shoulder, stopping briefly at his neck
before continuing to his lips. Slowly she moved her fingers to her own mouth
and licked them. "Hmmmm. I'm hungry. Are you?"

She strolled to the front door, smiling at her
boldness.

He grabbed her elbow and whirled her around.
"What are you trying to do to me?" He shifted his head close to hers.
"We said we'd wait three more days. But if you keep that up, I'll have to
take you inside, lock the girls outside and make love to you tonight."

The desire in Brett's eyes made Allison shiver.
"My, my, I think somebody's a little testy. I was just talking about
needing dinner."

"Like hell you were. You're driving me
crazy," he pulled her against his chest, "and you know it," he
placed his lips on hers, "and I love it."

He kissed her hard and fast and then let her go.
"Get inside before it's too late."

#

"I really appreciate everything you've done,
Brett." Allison placed the sandwiches she’d picked up at the deli on
plates. "I'm sure you're behind in your work, so I have a deal for
you."

He ripped open a bag of potato chips, dumping
piles on each plate. "What's that?"

"Girls, come get your dinner." Allison
and Brett set the plates on the table and sat down.

"I'll take the girls shopping on Saturday.
You can have several hours alone."

"Deal. I can catch up on my rest." He
leaned back in his chair, popping chips in his mouth. "You see I'm
expecting a very active Friday night."

"Brett." She reached over to the
counter, grabbed a dish towel and slung it at his head just as the girls came
around the corner.

"What's going on in here?" Kelly asked.

Brett captured the cloth just before it wrapped
around his face. "Somebody in this house is a little wound up." He balled
up the towel and shot it over the bar edge back toward the counter.

"Did you have another bad day, Mom?"
Kelly slipped into the chair across from Brett.

Allison narrowed her eyes at Brett. "I had a
perfectly wonderful day actually."

"I had a perfectly wonderful day, too."
Brett nodded. "And I'm expecting a perfectly wonderful reward for all my
good deeds on Friday night."

Her face turned red. "Brett..."

"Well, we are going out to eat on Friday
aren't we?" He moved his eyes from Allison to the girls. "And
Connie’s coming over for you two."

"Hooray." Caroline clapped. "She's
cool, Kelly. She's seventeen."

"And Allison is planning a shopping trip for
all you girls on Saturday, so I can work." He grinned at Allison.
"Isn't that nice of her?"

Picking up her sandwich, Allison placed it beside
her mouth to block the girls from seeing her lips. "Behave," she
mouthed.

Brett winked and stuffed his sandwich between his
lips.

#

"I'm going to move my car into the driveway,
Allison." He snagged his keys and headed to the front door. "You can
use it tomorrow. I need the truck to haul away some limbs."

"Where was it? I didn't see it." She
scraped the dirty plates in the sink and set them in the dishwasher.

"I moved it down the street so you'd have
room to park in front of the house. Be right back." He paused in the front
hallway. "Caroline, we need to go home, so get ready."

Hearing the front door open a few minutes later,
Allison dried her hands. Brett appeared at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Here are the keys for the car." He
handed Allison a key ring. "I have the tow truck coming tomorrow morning
to take your car in -"

"Oh no, is it that bad?"

"No." Brett grabbed her arms. "I
just think it's safer to have it towed. You don’t want to do any more damage.
And in the afternoon, a guy's coming by to give me an estimate on the
garage."

She placed her hands on his chest. "I can
take care of all this after tomorrow. I told Walter what happened and I’ll take
some time off."

"It's already done." He kissed her
forehead. "You'll get your turn to help on Saturday by letting me
work." He moved his lips down to her ear and whispered. "And you can
thank me properly on Friday night."

"Brett..."

He kissed her quickly on the lips and stepped
back. "Gotta go."

#

Black, sleek and shiny. Just the car Allison had
dreamed of parked in her driveway. A Jaguar.

"I can't believe it. He has a Jaguar."
She peeked in the car window. The lush beige leather seats beckoned. "Just
how successful was he?" She stepped back. "I can't drive this. What if
I wreck it?"

She raced back in the house and dialed Brett's. No
answer. She closed her eyes as she set down the receiver.

"I'm ready." Kelly touched her mother's
arm. "What's wrong?"

"Uh...nothing." Allison picked up her
purse and briefcase. "I guess we'd better go."

#

After Allison carefully parked the Jaguar in her
drive that afternoon, she switched off the engine, still shaking. She climbed
out and was standing next to the vehicle when Brett's Range Rover pulled in
behind her.

"Mom, look. We're going to make tacos."
The girls clutched small grocery bags and ran to the house. "We'll get
started."

Brett lifted the last two bags out of the back and
slammed the door. "How was your day?" he asked, strolling toward
Allison.

He stopped in front of Allison and set the bags on
the ground. "What's wrong? Why are you trembling?" He grabbed her
hands.

"Why didn't you tell me your car was a
Jaguar?"

"What?"

She waved her left hand toward the car, dragging
his arm along with hers. "Your car. If I had known it was a Jaguar I
would’ve never agreed to take it. I was a nervous wreck."

"Why?" He glanced at the car and back at
her. "It's just a car."

"Just a car?” She pulled her hands free and
walked to the front of the vehicle. “This is not just a car. This is an $85,000
dream car."

"So how was your day? The audit going all
right?" He picked up the grocery bags and Allison's briefcase in one hand.
Placing his other arm around her shoulder, he escorted her up the front walk.

"Brett I'm trying to talk to you about the car."
She let him lead her up the stairs.

"And I'm trying to talk about something
that's important. The car's not important." He stopped at the door and
looked down at Allison. "You want to open it, darling?"

"We're going to talk about this, Brett."
She slung open the door and reached down for her briefcase.

"Why don't you change clothes and we'll get
the food started." He left her standing in the hall, his voice trailing
off as he disappeared around the corner. "You girls ready to cook?"

#

"Here." Brett shoved a bottle of soda
into Allison's hand. "All we need now is for you to pour the drinks."
He went back to the stove and stirred the meat before spooning it into a bowl.
"Everyone get a plate and let's eat."