Passionate Bid (19 page)

“You know you can flatter me all you want, but you”re still giving me the money I ask.”

“Joanie, let”s not talk about the money or the damn divorce, okay?”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“I don”t want to talk. I want to make love with you.”

“Again?”

“Again. It would be my greatest pleasure.”

Julian made love with Joanie as if it was the end of the world. As though he were sitting on a death row and this was the only time they could be together.

It was stupid. What he was doing was even beyond that. Both of them knew they were together because of a deal they agreed on. But he couldn”t explain why letting go of Joanie was harder than putting a wounded or sick pet to sleep. Why couldn”t he just leave her alone?

Joanie responded to his touch without inhibitions. She opened up to him like a blooming flower. So beautiful and innocent.

“I will not forget this, love. You will always be my first wife. My Joanie.” He moved against her slowly, savoring each stroke, each grip of her throbbing walls.

This time, he wanted to make love with her the way a groom should to his bride on their first night. This time, he wanted their union to be unforgettable.

Julian kissed her, his tongue deep in her mouth, tasting, probing. He sucked her tongue, bit her lower lip, caressed her breasts, and every part of her that he could reach like a divine goddess.

Sheer pleasure registered on her face. “Joanie, look at me.” Heavy lidded and passion coated green eyes stared back at him. Julian”s heart thudded. And he knew, what he felt for her was beyond need.

“Yes, Julian.”

“This, what we are doing, is making love. I am making love you with.”

“And I with you. Now, please do something.”

He snaked his hand in between them to touch her clitoris. “Like this?”

“Yes.”

“Ahh…you”re tight and wet.” He pressed his finger deeper until his whole middle finger was buried. And then he pumped it slowly while looking at her beautiful face. Without taking his eyes off her, he pulled his finger out of her pussy and licked it dry. “You taste like honey.”

Joanie”s eyes widened for a brief second. And then she surprised him. She took his finger and sucked it. “You”re right and this honey is all yours.” Julian”s cock throbbed at her words. “Spread your legs wide, hon. Yes. Look at me. I want to see your beautiful eyes when you come.” He settled himself between her legs and watched her eyes flutter shut as he slowly penetrated her.

“Julian…”

He pulled out then plunged his cock deep inside her again. The pleasure was unbelievable, but the knowledge that he was giving it to Joanie made his heart swell.

Joanie met him thrust for thrust until she wracked from spasm. Then he released his own on the soap scented sheet.

All night, he made love with her. Showed her everything he knew about pleasing a woman. When the sign of the new day being born showed visibly on her window, he let her sleep. Another day had gone by. Soon, it would be Sam”s birthday. Soon it would be time for him to leave. Damn, why did that thought hurt so much?

Julian woke up when Joanie shifted from her position. Early morning sun filtered through the crack in the curtains. Morning already, he thought. This was the first time he woke up beside Joanie, and it felt wonderful. He planted a kiss on Joanie”s shoulder, adjusted the sheet around them and hugged her close to him. He thought about going back to sleep when he heard Sam”s footsteps. He had just lifted his head to see her when Sam came in running and tugged at the blanket with all her might. Julian, luckily, was quick enough to hang on to the edge of the sheet. It was fine and dandy for her to see mom and dad kissing, but to see them sleeping together without their clothes would be a shock to her innocent big blue eyes.

“I want pancakes.”

“Sam!” Joanie grabbed the blanket and covered herself. “Sam, it”s too early.

Uhm, hang on, bug, okay?” she said in a muffled voice.

Julian kept the other part of the blanket covering his lower half.

“I want Cheerios.”

“I”ll get it for you, Sam. We”ll give Mama another hour to sleep. She worked hard last night riding a stud so she”s tired.”

Joanie pinched his side. “Oww!”

“I wanna ride a stud.” Sam pouted, obviously miffed she didn”t get to ride her own.

“Someday, Sam. Can you turn around and count to twenty?”

“Uh-huh. Mama”s playing hide-and-seek?”

“Kind of.”

“Okay.” Sam turned around and started counting.

Julian joined Joanie under the blanket. “Good morning, beautiful. Care to give me a morning kiss?”

Sam heard him. “I want a kiss from Mama.”

“Of course you”ll get a kiss. Keep counting Sam.” He kissed Joanie. It was a long languorous one. Joanie returned a kiss so sensuous that he felt himself stirred.

“I had a great time.”

“Me, too. Julian, Sam can”t count up to twenty yet,” she whispered.

“Damn.” Kissing her one more time, he got out from under the sheet. “Sam baby, I got a kiss from mama. Come to daddy, and I”ll give it to you.” Sam who was already done counting and facing them ran to his side. She presented her pudgy cheek and laughed when he made a loud kissing sound. “I want cheese sticks.”

“Sure. You can have whatever we can find in the kitchen.”

“Yeee. I”ll go get Dolly.” Sam disappeared from the room.

“Thanks. I don”t think I”ll be able to face her again if she sees us like this.” Joanie sat up. The blanket slid off her shoulders and exposed one luscious breast.

“Hmm…how long do you think before Sam finds her doll?” He inched closer, forcing Joanie to fall back on the bed.

“Seconds. And Julian, don”t look at me like that. I”m still sore—hmm.”

“Just want more of your honey taste.” He kissed each corner of her mouth before capturing her full lips. “Sweet. Joanie—”

“Daddy, Daddy! Dolly and me want Cheerios.” Sam”s voice drifted from the other room

“Demanding little bug.”

“You should have seen her when she was a baby. She could suck my nipples like—”

“Stop! Wench. What? You”re trying to make me lose my head?”

“I”m just saying.” Joanie smiled.

“I better leave you here. Otherwise, our child will starve to death. I plan to take her to the mall. You can come if you want, but if you”d rather stay and sleep that”s fine, too”

“You need time alone with Sam. I”ll stay.”

“Need anything?”

“Häagen-Dazs”s double chocolate chip coffee ice cream.”

“Got it.”

Julian put his pants on. He didn”t want to leave Joanie”s bed, but he had a hungry child waiting. Besides, it was time for him to think straight. He was here on a mission—to divorce Joanie not to love…

He gripped his shirt tight and looked straight at the woman he”d tried to forget, the woman he didn”t wish to see again, the woman who was looking at him with a smile he would never forget. Could it be that for a short period of time—a week in fact, he fell in love with her? Impossible. It would take more than a week for a person to truly fall in love with someone. Not merely a day or two. Or three.

“Are you okay?”

“I”m not sure.” He strode toward the door and scooped up his daughter who was coming out of her room.

Joanie stretched on the bed, which still held the scent of Julian, of sex.

Losing her virginity to Julian was her own doing. She”d wanted it to happen. And it did with the help of alcohol. But last night…Julian was sober. They had sex—lots and lots of it—because he wanted it to happen, too.

Feeling smug, she hugged the pillow Julian used and inhaled his lingering scent.

Sam and Julian”s voices floated upstairs and into her room. She couldn”t make out what Sam was saying but whatever it was must be funny because Julian laughed. She wanted to join the two people she loved most, but decided to stay in bed and be lazy. Julian asked for Sam”s time. He could have it. Later, when the night was quiet and the moon was high in the sky, she would have her time with Julian. She hoped.

Joanie closed her eyes and listened to the murmurs from downstairs until she couldn”t hear anything anymore.

It was past noon when she woke up. Lord, she never stayed this late in bed since before she had Sam. She felt rested, invigorated, charged, and wonderful.

Joanie yawned. The house was quiet. Julian and Sam must be gone still. She lounged long enough in bed. It was time to cleanup. Quickly, she took a shower and put on her old jeans and green tank top.

Downstairs, she found the kitchen tidy and on the table was her vase full of crudely cut flowers she recognized from her garden. The stems were broken; leaves were torn. There were petals on the table. It was the most beautiful sad looking bunch of flowers she had ever seen.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and then she laughed. For the first time since her father died, she felt happy.

The coffee pot was full. The coffee was already cold, but she could always microwave a cup. She was already having her seconds when the phone rang. It was Carmen, the Windermere agent, telling her that the buyer was in town and really interested in buying her property. After a lengthy apology and explanation about why the property wasn”t for sale anymore, she ended the conversation on a positive note, that if ever she changed her mind, she”d contact her right away.

She couldn”t believe she”d actually held off a buyer when a few days ago she was hard on advertising the property on-line. The house, Sam”s insurance, her lack of dependable job had been a thorn on her side. And then Julian showed up. His presence made the financial part of her life back to normal.

The clock struck two. Time to prepare dinner. This time, she”d try harder not to burn the food.

Julian must have spent fifty bucks on the coin-operated rides in Bend River Mall. It was incredible how the rides could keep a child occupied for hours.

Finally, when Sam got tired of riding each one of them, she asked for an ice cream cone. Shopping with Sam was fun and easy. No perusing clothes labels, trying on clothes, and preening in front of the mirror involve.

He kept her on his shoulders while they walked around different toy stores.

By the time they left the mall, they accumulated three bags full of everything pink and a bag from Victoria”s Secret. He smiled at the image he conjured in his mind—

Joanie in her new dark pink negligee. He could hardly wait for the night time to come when he could be alone with her while his little honey slept in her own new pink pajamas. He thought green would look good on Joanie, but Sam insisted he buy the pink one.

By the time he buckled Sam in his car, she was half-asleep.

Through the rearview mirror, Julian looked at his daughter hugging her doll.

Her pudgy cheek leaning against the cushion and her lips puckered. He reminded them of Joanie”s. He could buy Sam all the toys in the world, but none could ever replace Dolly.

Sam yawned, opened her eyes and met his gaze through the rearview mirror.

“Hi, baby, are you tired?”

“I want Mama.”

“Me, too.” It was the truth. He wanted Joanie the first time he saw her in the woods. All morning, he wished Joanie had gone with them. He missed her smile, her laughter, her eyes, her scent. He missed her.

The mall wasn”t too far from Joanie”s house. In his estimation, only about fifteen minutes. He passed the Pink Mermaid and wondered if Bogart had found a replacement for Joanie. Taking the street to Joanie”s, a surge of excitement at the prospect of seeing his wife overwhelmed him.

Julian shook his head in disbelief. He was acting like a teenager excited to see his girlfriend. He took the bend that led to Joanie”s house. A few minutes later, the old house loomed in ahead. Something was wrong though. Smoke was coming out of the kitchen windows. Fudge! Was the house on fire?

As if he was on fire himself, he floored the car and nearly parked it on the porch. “Sam, baby. Stay here. Daddy will be back.”

“Okay.”

Without wasting any time, he yanked the front door open and ran into the kitchen calling Joanie”s name. The living room was engulfed in smoke and the burnt smoke heavy in the air. “Joanie! Joanie! Where are you?”

“I”m here. Stop shouting.”

“You okay? What the hell is going on? Is the house on fire?”

“Yes, I”m okay and no the house isn”t on fire. Only my pork roast. Damn it!” Julian opened the windows and the back door wide. With the amount of smoke, a fire alarm should be blaring now. “You don”t have fire alarm?”

“Yeah, I do. It needs new batteries. Where is Sam?”

“In the car. I left her there because I thought the house is on fire. What happened?”

Joanie pointed on the baking pan. “That”s what happened.” The meat was beyond recognition. It may have been pork when she put it in the pan, but it wasn”t anymore. It resembled a black lava rock he once saw in Hawaii. And the little round black things around it were probably potatoes. He wanted to laugh, but thought better of it. His wife couldn”t cook shit. “We might be able to salvage it.” And end up having broken teeth.

“I doubt it. I don”t understand. It says on the directions to set the temperature to 350°, which I did, so I don”t know why it got too hot and burned my roast.”

Joanie looked so crest fallen, he had to hug her. Her hair smelled of smoke and shampoo. He didn”t care. And he didn”t care about the roast, he was just glad Joanie wasn”t the one that ended up charred.

When he saw Bogart”s fist hit her on the cheek, fear had gripped his heart.

Now, thoughts that the house was on fire while she was inside had made his heart stop beating. Well, at least it felt that way. Sheez, if this continued, he”d have a heart attack before he reach the age of thirty-five. He gave Joanie a squeeze before he released her. “There must be something wrong with the elements. I”ll take a look. Don”t worry about the roast.”

“Well, that”s supposed to be dinner.”

“We could always order pizza. Go get Sam.”

The oven must have been older than his grandma. It had seen better days and who knows how many thanksgiving turkeys. Peering inside, he found a portable timer. The kind that a cook would hang on the grill if the oven timer were broken. Joanie must have missed it since the color was the same as the oven”s black walls. If Joanie had used this oven before, she would have known about the timer. He bet Saint Claire had done all the cooking for Joanie and Sam.