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“You could open the front door,” she suggested.
“Right. Sorry, half asleep here. Come around front and I’ll let you in.”
It wasn’t until he opened the door that he realized he was buck naked. He preferred to sleep nude whenever he could get away with it, but he probably should have pulled some clothes on before letting her in.
He closed the door in her face.
“Let me get dressed!” he called to her, dashing into his bedroom. His house was an open floor plan A-frame made of Minnesota pine timbers. He emphasized comfort over adornment. The only things on the wall were topo maps and an enlarged photo of a loon.
She pushed the door open and came in, following him into the bedroom. “No need for that.”
“I want to prove I’m not a barbarian.” He clutched his boxers to his body, hiding his privates, which were already responding to her presence. She still wore the form-fitting blue dress that had been driving him crazy all during dinner.
“I don’t care if you’re a barbarian.” She shoved him lightly on the chest, causing him to back up until he felt the bed against his legs. “I don’t care if you never suffer through a dinner with my mother again.”
“I didn’t suffer.” He’d enjoyed Laney Abercrombie, in a weird way. Her energy reminded him of a grackle. The female grackles were very particular about their nests and spent days lining them with fine materials. “She’s protective of her young. That’s common.”
“Her young?” Brenda laughed a little wildly. Her hair was loose and tangled, as if she’d driven here with the top down. “Is that what I am?”
“I just mean…she’s wary of someone like me. Can’t really blame her.”
“Oh, but I do. And you know what? Screw her. I can be with who I want. I can fuck who I want.” She emphasized the word “fuck” as if trying to make a point with her language. “And that’s what I intend to do. Get into bed.”
“Excuse me?”
“I want to have sex with you. Right now.”
He stared at her burning eyes and heaving chest. She was angry, magnificently so. And he’d jump at the chance to have sex with her. But he didn’t want to be part of an anger fuck to get back at her mother.
“Why?” he asked directly. “Because of her?”
She crumpled into a seated position on his bed and dropped her head in her hands. “Maybe,” she muttered. “She made me so angry. I hate that she can make me feel this way, like everything I am is worthless. And she’s ramping up the pressure to get Granny to move closer to her.”
He dropped down next to her and rubbed her back with one hand. His other hand still held his boxers, which he was using to shield her view of his erection.
“Oh, that feels so good,” she moaned.
His erection swelled even further.
“You’re not worthless,” he said in a low voice. “You could never be worthless. Do you want me to take a poll of your students and see what they say?”
“You think Mom cares what a bunch of fourth-graders say?”
“Why not? Kids are pretty savvy when it comes to cutting through bullshit. Besides, is she the only one whose opinion matters? What about the rest of us?”
She lifted her head up and brushed her hair off her face. He saw marks of tears that just about ripped his heart out. “I must sound like a baby. I’m a grown woman who still gets all messed up by her mother. I’m sorry I dumped all this on you. It wasn’t my intention.”
He recalled the furious energy with which she’d burst through his door. “Your intention was…”
“Sex,” she admitted. “Blow off steam. I’m sorry, I guess that sounds like I was using you for sex.”
“It’s fine. I don’t actually have a problem with that. But let’s try something else first.” Her emotions were all over the place. He felt as if he was caught in a whirlwind, and the best thing to do during any kind of storm was to find some solid ground and hunker down.
“What?”
“How about a back rub?”
“Oh, that sounds amazing. Yes please.”
