Seeing Spots (6 page)

"Oh, dear, we don’t mean to intrude…"

"No, it’s fine," Dare
said. "Really."

Susan glanced back at Kathy, who offered her
friendliest smile. "Let’s all have some hamburgers."

*****

"I’m really sorry," Dare said two hours
later, once his parents had left. They’d all gorged on hamburgers
and chips and potato salad, talking all the while. His parents had
grilled Kathy the way he’d grilled the hamburgers, asking about her
job and her background and how long she’d known Dare until he’d
blushed like a teenager. They'd even asked, oddly enough, if Dare
had bought the spotted swimsuit for her, and seemed a trifle
surprised when she told them she'd bought it
herself.  But she’d handled the parental inquisition with
aplomb.

If things between them got serious, of
course, he’d meant for her to meet his parents eventually. But no
one in his right mind introduced a woman to his parents on the
second date. She’d been an awfully good sport about it, though,
which he appreciated.

"It was fine." Seated in one of the wooden
deck chairs, bathed in the golden-red light of the setting sun, she
smiled at him. "I like your parents, Dare. They’re nice
people."

"Yeah." He sighed, and took a swig of
his Bud. "I figured you’d like them. And I knew they’d like you.
You all have a lot in common."

"Really?" She lifted her eyebrows,
taking a daintier sip of her Guinness Stout. "Like what?"

"Like, you know..." He heaved another long
sigh, and muttered into his Bud bottle. "Brains."

He hadn’t really intended
for her to hear, but he knew she had from the way her eyebrows
lowered. She lowered her glass and scowled at him.
"
Dare
."

He knew exactly what she’d say, and he knew
he didn’t want to talk about it again. He put his bottle down,
putting an end to the discussion. There wasn’t any point in
rehashing this topic over and over again. She was smart, and he
wasn’t, and sooner or later, he wouldn’t be enough for her. That
was obvious, even to him.

But it was a beautiful evening, and the sun
was setting as the stars began to glitter above, and only a fool
wouldn’t take advantage of a night like this while it lasted. He
might not be a genius, but he wasn’t a fool.

He looked over at her, seeing her beautiful
body encased in spots. Something primal inside of him growled, and
he decided not to worry about whether or not this would last
forever. It didn’t have to last forever to be worthwhile.

"Come on," he said. "Let’s go for a
swim."

He dove into the pool, and after a moment’s
hesitation, she followed him.

And this time, no one interrupted them.

Chapter 6

"I'm worried our love life may be growing
stale, Kathy. We only made love five times yesterday."

Seated on the
leather-upholstered couch in Dare’s house, Kathy quirked an
eyebrow. "I don't think that's
exactly 
stale
, Dare. It's just slightly more sane. We can't spend all
our lives in bed, you know."

"I'm serious." He plopped
down a dog-eared copy of 
Glam
Girl
 on the coffee table in front of
her. "I've been reading your magazine..."

"That's not mine. A client
left it in my office. I read 
Scientific American
. I
swear."

"Uh-huh. Anyway, there's this article about
how to tell when your relationship is losing some of its spark.
Reduced frequency of sex is one of the things to look for. It's a
matter for serious concern."

"
Five times in a day
, Dare. I don't
think you need to worry quite yet."

He knew perfectly well why
they’d had a little less sex lately, of course. It was because over
the past two months, they’d begun spending all their time together
doing other stuff. To his amazement, they’d turned out to have a
lot in common. They both loved cooking, they both loved jogging,
and they both loved the old TV show 
Farthest Space
 (though her
favorite character was the smart and sassy female first officer,
while his favorite character was the strong-but-dumb male captain).
More than once, they’d gotten so busy discussing the physics and
philosophy of 
Farthest
Space
 that they’d failed to notice it
was midnight. And since he had to get up at six every morning,
talking till midnight left no time for other endeavors.

Even so, he did his best to look anxious.
"I'm totally worried," he assured her. "That's why I think we need
to take action now, before it's too late, and we find ourselves
only having sex three or four times a day."

He saw from the flicker of humor in her eyes
that she'd finally caught onto the fact that he was teasing her. "I
see," she said, very seriously. "I'm assuming you have a plan to
correct the problem?"

"Of course." He grinned. "And the
solution is..."

"Spots," she guessed.

His grin faded slightly, and he blinked.
"How'd you know that?"

"Because you're completely obsessed with
leopard spots," she told him. "Remember the other night, when you
wanted me to wear my leopard spot pumps, and nothing else?"

He nodded, and some extremely pleasant
erotic images drifted through his brain. "Good times," he said
reminiscently.

"I don't know, Dare. I’m kind of surprised
my spike heels didn’t gouge holes in your ass."

"Fortunately for me, your spike heels didn't
even tickle. But back to my idea. Trust me. This is even
better than heels."

She flashed her
amused 
you-silly-boy
 grin. "Okay,
Dare. If it keeps us having sex more often, I'm all for it. Tell me
your idea."

"I'll do better than that," he said. "I'll
show you. Come on."

He took her hand and led her upstairs. At
the door of his bedroom, she looked around... and started to
giggle.

"Dare. You're obsessed."

"I'm not obsessed. I'm enthused."

"You
are 
obsessed
. Look at this place!"

He shrugged a big shoulder, stepping aside
so she could walk in. "I like spots."

"No kidding. Leopard spotted curtains. A
leopard spotted comforter. And..." She suspiciously peeled back a
corner of the comforter. "Of course. Leopard spotted
sheets."

"And a leopard spotted lampshade. Check it
out."

"Darren Greene." She looked up at him, her
expression caught somewhere between laughter and an eye roll. "You
have officially gone insane."

He did his best to look crushed. "I thought
you liked spots."

"Well... I like them on you."

"Now you can see a lot of them on me," he
said earnestly. "I thought we could take our clothes off and roll
around naked in the spots."

She tilted her head a bit, as if considering
the image his words put into her mind. "That doesn't sound too
bad..."

"I think it
sounds 
awesome
. Spots. Naked skin. Sex. Seriously,
what's the problem here?"

"Uh... it sounds fun, actually."

"Exactly." He reached down and began
divesting her of her clothes. "A sure way to put some spark back in
our rapidly dwindling love life. We'll be back up to seven or eight
times a day in no time."

She laughed, and started stripping off his
clothes, too. "Sounds good to me," she said. "Just promise me one
thing."

He peeled off her jeans. "What's that?"

"No leopard spotted wallpaper."

He grinned, scooped her up, and tossed her
naked form onto the bed. Just as he'd figured, she looked
incredibly sexy against a backdrop of spots.

"Okay," he agreed. "No wallpaper."

But her pale, perfect skin
looked gorgeous against the spotted sheets, and as he began to make
love to her, a few stray erotic pictures filtered through his
brain. Making love to her in bed was great, but suddenly he
couldn't stop imagining how awesome it would be to have her arms
and legs wrapped around him as he gripped her ass, holding her
upright against a wall. A 
spotted
 wall.

Suddenly he was filled with the desire to
make love to her standing up, against a backdrop of spots.

Tomorrow
, he promised himself. Right
now, he just wanted to enjoy rolling around with her in a field of
spots. But tomorrow...

No. He'd already promised her he wouldn't
put up any wallpaper. Damn it.

Oh,
well
. He considered the
matter, then smiled to himself, a small, secret grin.
Because after all...

Kathy hadn't said anything about
paint.

Chapter 7

"You sounded a little mopey on the
phone."

Dare didn't turn around at the sound of his
girlfriend's voice. Summer had drifted into autumn, and the
evenings were chilly now. He was seated on the couch in his living
room and staring into the fire, although not in a mopey
way. Not at all. Just sort of an introspective,
thoughtful, contemplative way that had nothing whatsoever to do
with moping.

Kathy's voice spoke behind him again, gentle
and comforting. "It sounds like you had a rough day."

He sighed, because she clearly wasn't going
to go away and leave him to his... contemplation. "It was fine," he
said in a tone that might have been construed as mopey, but
definitely wasn't.

Because he was totally not moping.

"Darren. It was not fine. You said you lost
your biggest customer."

He sank down into the sofa cushions a little
further, hunching his shoulders defensively. "Yeah. The
Swift Creek Golf Course. They went with another company."

"Oh, Dare." Her hand dropped onto his
shoulder. "I'm sorry. Is that going to hurt your business?"

"We’ll probably be okay. We’re adding
customers all the time, so I don’t think I’ll have to lay anyone
off. It’s just… I don’t know how I’m going to tell my parents."

She looked down at him with sympathy in the
hazel eyes. "You worry a lot about what your parents think, don’t
you?"

"It’s not like I’m trying to prove anything
to them," he said, a little defensively. "They’re proud of
me. Really. It’s just that…"

"Deep down, you’re not sure about that."

He sighed, staring into the fire, seeing the
ever-changing patterns of his own life reflected in the golden
flames. "All I ever wanted was for them to be proud of me, Kathy.
I’ve worked hard at making my business the best it can be. And when
something like this happens…"

She squeezed his shoulder. "I bet they’re
still proud of you."

"You’re probably right," he admitted,
leaning his head back against her abdomen. She stroked his hair,
and he closed his eyes. The sigh that escaped him this time was one
of contentment. "I just… well, on some level I know they wanted me
to go to college.To be more like them. And I turned out so…
ordinary."

She was silent for a long moment, her
fingers caressing his hair. At last she spoke, very softly.

"You use that word a lot."

His eyes flickered open, and he looked up at
her. "Which word?"

"Ordinary." Her hands
stroked through the depths of his hair. "But I don’t think you’re
ordinary at all, Dare. I doubt your parents do, either. You started
with one lawnmower after college, and built that up into the
biggest lawn care business in the area. That doesn’t
sound 
ordinary
 to me."

At the respect and approval in her voice,
his heart lifted a little. He opened his eyes and twisted his head
around, really looking at her for the first time since she'd
arrived. She was wearing a casual, low-cut knit shirt, and her
golden hair fell loosely around her face.

An image flashed through his mind, a memory
of the first time they'd made love. That had been three months ago
now. He remembered how he’d fallen into her arms at a glimpse of
her spotted bra.

He wondered if she was wearing that bra now.
The thought gave him a pleasant inner glow. But the glow was
tempered by the seriousness of her words.

"I’m glad you think so," he said. "Because
I’ve sort of been wondering…"

He trailed off, and she looked down at him,
her eyes filled with curiosity. "Wondering what?"

He swallowed, looking away from her
forthright gaze. "Never mind."

"Dare." She captured his ear in her fingers,
and twisted it just a little. "Talk."

He yelped. "I’m talking! I’m talking!"

She released his ear, and he rubbed ruefully
at his ear. "Well, it’s like this, Kathy. When we first got
together, I thought you were too good for someone like me, someone
so…"

"If you want to keep that
ear, you won’t say 
ordinary
 again."

"Um, okay. Let’s just say that we’ve had
different educational paths. Anyway, I didn’t think we could have
anything together except a lot of hot sex—"

"Which we’ve definitely had."

"True," he
admitted. "A 
lot
 of hot sex. But it
kind of seems to me that we have more than that. I really like
being with you, Kathy. And I was wondering…"

He trailed off again, and she tweaked his
ear again in a threatening way. "You keep getting stuck on the same
word."