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“I have to call Redbull and report in. I should have done it before but I forgot.”
His teasing tone made it clear why he’d forgotten. It was all her fault, said his hot glance.
She took a long time in the shower, savoring the hot water and the lavender-scented bath gel. By the time she was done, Galen still wasn’t back. So she went into the bedroom that hadn’t been used and stripped off the bedspread. Soft sheets called to her, and she couldn’t resist.
She dropped the towel and climbed onto the bed, moaning with contentment. Goddamn, how had she never noticed how amazing sheets were? Such simple but miraculous pieces of cloth. People really took them for granted. Everyone should go camping in a cave sometime, they’d have new appreciation for the little things like sheets. She stretched luxuriously, arms overhead, toes pointed, easing the tension that had accumulated in her muscles on that hard dirt floor. God, that felt good. She moved her body, working out kinks in her lower back, her shoulders.
A strangled sound made her look toward the door. Galen stood there, his mouth open in shock. A noise made her jump; he’d dropped his Thermos to the floor.
Oh right. She was naked.
Usually, she tended to be shy about exposing herself to new lovers. She liked to take it slow, make sure they didn’t mind a fleshier type of build. But it was different with Galen, because she already knew how much he desired her. He’d told her, and she’d seen it for herself. Sudden erections, hot looks, tented briefs.
Instead of hiding herself, she met his eyes and smiled. She dropped one hand to her chest and let it trail across her skin. You could be touching this. Don’t you wish this was your hand?
As he stood there, riveted, feet frozen to the floor, she felt a tingle in the space between her thighs. Being looked at like that, as if she was the queen of nudes, turned her on.
But then he didn’t move. What was going on? She pulled the blanket over her body, and that seemed to wake him.
“We…we have to go.”
“What?” She clutched the blanket to her chest, feeling like a complete idiot.
“I just got a call from Redbull. Your grandmother’s been trying to reach us, but I guess your phone ran out of battery. Your mother’s here. We need to get back right away.”
fifteen
When they reached Brenda’s house, sure enough, a hybrid SUV sat in the driveway, black and sleek as a panther.
They’d said barely anything on the drive back. Galen still couldn’t get the image of Brenda’s glorious naked body out of his mind. His raging erection refused to subside. Maybe they should have made love at the Loading Dock, maybe he should have jumped onto the bed and tasted that golden freckled flesh and those sweet lips tucked in their soft ginger nest. Her nipples…my God, he couldn’t get them out of his head. They were the color of cinnamon, and they’d made his mouth water.
Why did he have to have such a conscience? Redbull had sounded about as irritated as he ever had in his life. “She’s been calling me every five minutes, man. You gotta get back here. I don’t need any more angry elders on my ass.”
As soon as he’d mentioned her mother, all of Brenda’s open sensuality had evaporated. It was amazing, as if she’d turned off an inner switch. She’d jumped out of bed and snatched up her clothes, then disappeared into the bathroom to put them on.
Now she shot him a sidelong, dubious glance from the passenger seat of his truck. “Do you want to come in?”
He snorted. “Like this? Not a chance.” He’d never gotten his shower because they’d left right away. A quick glance in the rearview mirror told him he’d be liable to give any upscale suburban mom a stroke.
She didn’t argue. “Thanks for everything, Galen.” Then she winced. “I didn’t mean that to sound so final. I’ll probably be busy with my mother for a bit, but after that…”
“Text me. Or come by. Whichever’s easier.”
He noticed that she didn’t mention anything about playing her boyfriend in front of her mother. Along with relief, he felt some disappointment about that. It would have been another opportunity to do something for Brenda. Maybe she was regretting everything that had happened between them. Maybe she was wishing she hadn’t gotten naked in front of him.
But then she leaned across the bucket seat and kissed him on the cheek. “That was one of the most amazing times of my entire life,” she murmured against his skin. Then before he could respond, she climbed out of the truck and grabbed her backpack. “See you soon.”
That sounded like a promise, he thought as he drove towards his own house, where he planned to take a lengthy shower, him and his hopeless erection. He wondered how long Brenda’s mother was staying, how long he’d have to wait until he saw Brenda again. Maybe her mother’s arrival hadn’t interrupted things for too long. Maybe he should find sneaky ways to run into her. He could volunteer to take Zack to school more often. He could do a presentation on wilderness survival at a school assembly, as he’d been invited to several times.
His cell phone rang, interrupting his reverie. He answered it with one hand. “Where’d you run off to?” It was CeCe, Brenda’s grandmother. “I was hoping you’d come inside and meet my daughter.”
“Sorry, I need to get home. I’m almost there already.”
“You rescued me once, I think you should rescue me again. From boredom.”
He laughed. “You’re never really bored, are you? You entertain yourself.”
“That’s true, and very perceptive. Well then, Galen Cooper, you’ll just have to come back for dinner. Brenda says she’s too tired tonight for any socializing, but tomorrow should be fine.”
