Hide and Seek (4 page)

"I heard what you said, and I appreciate it. I'd been thinking something along those same lines. But I was also thinking we're both adults. What better way to get to know each other?"

He touched her face. "Only if you're sure. I respect you too much to do anything that might make you uncomfortable, Maddie."

"Thank you. I just couldn't handle a one night stand then have to see you at work every day."

He caressed her cheek. "We are
not
going to have a one night stand. Truth be told, I hoped this would happen when I invited you for lunch today. Sophie's gone for thirty more hours. I'd like to spend the better part of that making love to you."

Leaning in to whisper in her ear, he said, "Our first time is going to be a lot of things, but 'cozy' is not high on my list."

"Whatever you want."

He nibbled her earlobe. "You know what I want. You, naked, with plenty of time and privacy to act out all the fantasies I've had this week."

Maddie was instantly aroused by the pure lust she heard in his words. "Let's get going, then."

They shoved the remnants of the picnic back into the basket, and the trash into another bag. Rob folded the blanket, and they walked hand in hand to his house. "Hey, Bo," he said to the big Golden Retriever who met them inside the kitchen door.

"Oh, yeah." Rob sent Bo to the back yard and put away the food from their picnic basket. He turned on the water and washed his hands.

Maddie stuck her fingers under the stream with his. "Make sure you use plenty of soap." She lathered all four of their hands, and rubbed hers over his seductively.

He groaned as she massaged his fingers one by one. He shut the water off and wiped his hands quickly on a towel. "There's something I've wanted to do since I met you." He reached for the band at bottom of her hair braid and pulled it out, using his fingers to unweave the braid until her hair was loose and flowing. Running his hands though it, he murmured, "This feels as wonderful as I imagined it would." Rob wound his hand in her hair and gently tugged at it, pulling her close to him. He covered her mouth with his, no longer tentative, moving his tongue forward to what he desired.

Maddie opened her mouth and drove her tongue forward to meet his. His mouth was hot and wet, a condition Maddie found that the rest of her body was rapidly sinking into. She slid her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, urging him to take more.

Rob growled. "God, I want you!" His mouth skimmed down her neck, nibbling and sucking as it went. "I don't think I've ever wanted anyone as much as I want you."

"Take me," she encouraged, bending her neck to the rough scrape of his face. "Take all of me."

Rob pulled back slowly and smiled at her with a glazed look in his eyes. Maddie thought hers probably looked the same way. She was so aroused, she feared she might explode if he kept touching her. "Where's the bedroom?" she asked urgently.

"This way." He took her hand and led her down the hall.

* * * *

When she opened her eyes later, it took a few heart-stopping moments for Maddie to remember where she was. The room was unfamiliar, but she quickly recalled the events of the afternoon. She smiled and settled back as she relived them in her mind.

She glanced around the room. Rob was nowhere in sight. She yawned and stretched. She'd never felt as safe and secure as he made her feel that afternoon.

The sun was on its way down, and she judged it to be late afternoon. Maddie didn't know how long she'd slept, but knew she slept soundly. She crawled out of bed, reaching for her clothes before reconsidering and pulling on a shirt from Rob's closet.

After a quick stop at the bathroom, she wandered into the kitchen where she heard him talking on the phone. She stopped in the doorway to listen.

"Hey, Fred, it's Coop. Yeah buddy, I'm fine. Listen, I'm not going to make it to Smoky's birthday bash tonight. No, nothing's wrong, I've just got some stuff going on. Give him my best, will you? Okay, I'll see you guys Monday. You bet. Bye." He hung up and went to the stove, where he was heating a wok.

Maddie entered the kitchen. "Would that be a wok?"

"Hey, gorgeous." Rob moved kissed her temple. "Sleep well?"

"Very well. Must have been making up for the lack of sleep I got last night, tossing and turning in a frustrated puddle of perspiration."

She watched him cooking wearing nothing but jeans, unbuttoned at the waist. It was a pleasant sight. Finally she asked, "Might you have something to drink in that refrigerator?"

"I do." He nodded, chopping vegetables and adding them to the wok. "Tea, water, and some pink bottles of an unrecognizable flavor of juice. Help yourself."

"Maybe I like the way you say my name. I especially like the way you said it today." He kissed her neck and imitated her voice. "Rob, oh Rob, yes Rob, yesssss!"

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Certainly not." He kissed her neck again. "I told you, I liked it. And I really liked the way you talked dirty to me. That put me through the roof."

She crossed her arms. "I just don't understand how anyone can be quiet making love. I have to shout it out, halleluiah!"

Chuckling, he returned to his steaming wok. "You've obviously never done it with your parents in the next room. That tends to shut you up pretty quickly. More of a 'get-r-done' type of thing."

Maddie laughed. "No, I've never done that. I didn't have my 'sexual awakening' shall we say, until I was off to college."

Rob poured rice into two bowls and topped it with the chicken and vegetable mixture he'd stir fried. He grabbed a couple of forks and napkins. "Bring the drinks. We'll eat out here on the back porch. It's cooler."

She carried their teas and followed him outside. There were two Adirondack chairs with a table between them, and they each took a seat. Rob held his bowl in one hand to eat, and Maddie followed suit. "These chairs are comfortable."

He smiled at her. "Yes they are. And I'll never look at them the same way again."

She looked down at the way she sprawled out in the chair, with one foot tucked under her and the other kicked up on the footrest. He had a clear shot of her panty-less crotch. "Oh sheesh, I'm sorry." She lowered her feet.

Rob reached out to her. "Put your feet back the way they were. Get comfortable. I was enjoying the view." He rubbed her knee, and she settled back in the way she was.

He peeked between her legs, motioned for her to move one just a bit, then gave her the "OK" sign.

Maddie rolled her eyes and ate. "This is good! I was already thinking you're the perfect man. Now to find out you can cook, too. Better watch out. Some woman's going to snatch you up."

"Snatch me up, you say?" He looked between her legs again. "Um, yeah. I could go for that."

"You are bad." She tossed a sprig of broccoli at him. It bounced off his shoulder and landed on the porch. "Oops, sorry." She crinkled her nose.

"Not a problem." He wiped his shoulder with a napkin and called loudly, "Bo! Come on, Bo!"

The dog bounded up the porch steps. He scarfed down the broccoli and nosed around for something else. Rob took a piece of chicken and tossed it in the air. Bo grabbed it and swallowed in one gulp. "Stick around, boy." He nodded toward Maddie "This one might be messier than Sophie."

Bo took the hint, and lay down next to Maddie's chair.

She dragged her hand through his soft fur. "He's a beauty."

"Yep, a beauty," Rob agreed, never taking his eyes off Maddie. Finally, he set his bowl on the table and said, "Okay, you grilled me over lunch, so I get to grill you over dinner. Tell me the story of how a Connecticut Yankee wound up in Meridan, Oklahoma."

Maddie scrunched up her face and shook her head. She placed her bowl on the table and wiggled her knee back and forth. "It's really boring. I can think of way more interesting things to do, can't you?"

"I definitely can. I'm making a list in my head, in fact. But we still have twenty-some hours ahead of us, and I think that'll be enough time for most of my list."

Maddie remembered his phone call. "Are you sure there isn't somewhere you'd rather be tonight? I don't want to keep you from anything."

He shook his head. "There's nowhere I'd rather be tonight than in your arms. I hope you're going to stay."

She nodded. "There's nowhere I'd rather be, either."

"Excellent." He leaned back and smiled. "So start talking. You promised to tell me anything I wanted to know."

She raised her hands and dropped them again. "Okay, whatever. Yes, I was born and raised a stuffy and repressed young woman in Hartford, Connecticut. The first chance I got to experience anything was in college, and I guess you could say I went a little nuts. I tried to do it all."

He laughed and stomped his foot on the porch. "Oh my God! No wonder Kansas University sounded like small potatoes to you."

She chuckled and shook her head, one last time. "Really, it was no big deal. I spent more time learning things from my roommate than I did from the professors. She offered courses in Watermelon Shooters and Sloe Gin Fizzes."

He shook his head. "We're not talking about your hair right now. We'll save that little fetish of mine for later. Three things."

Maddie looked him over and decided to tell him some stuff.
Test the waters again, so to speak.
"Okay. First, she taught me how to roll a joint."

"Useful. I'd ask you to demonstrate, but I gave up pot when Sophie was born. Go on."

"Second, she taught me how to, shall we say, pleasure a man with my mouth."

He choked on that one and took a sip of her tea because his was empty. "Even more useful. We may have to test that one out. Do I want to know how she taught you that little trick? Please tell me it was with a carrot."

"We started with a carrot, and I graduated to her boyfriend, who did not mind being used as a test dummy for even one moment."

She jumped in before he could finish. "Absolutely. Many times. I'm clean as a whistle. I would never do that to you, or to Sophie."
Cute that he's worried about sexually transmitted diseases after we had sex.

"Thank you. I'm clean too, just so you know. I believe you have one more thing to tell me."

"I don't know. That last one creeped you out."

"A little. I care about you. I want to protect you. And the thought of you stoned in some gang-banger-orgy makes me sick. And angry."