Hide and Seek (5 page)

"They're probably some of Wall Street's best and brightest right now. We all grow up, baby. Besides, there were never any orgies. There was one brief foray into lesbianism."

He grinned. "Do I hear a number three coming on?"

"Yeah, okay. We had some pretty good lesbian sex. Zoey knew how to pleasure a woman."

"Oh, really?" He moved from his chair and on to hers. Wrapping himself around her, he whispered in her ear, "Any pointers you want to give me?"

"You don't need any pointers, other than the lovely one you already have. Let me put it this way. I was a lousy lesbian. I have needs only a man can fulfill."

Running his hands over her, he teased, "Are you sure? Anything you want to tell me will be taken under serious advisement."

"Good grief, no! You're the perfect man, babe."

He squeezed her face in his hands. "You are the most amazing woman I've ever met. Totally honest, upfront, no holds barred. I love that about you."

She shrugged. "If I can't be honest with you, what are we doing here?"

"I know one thing we're doing here." He gazed into her eyes. "We're getting ready to make love again."

Maddie grinned. "Want me to show you a couple of things Zoey taught me?" She slid off the chair and knelt in front of him.

"Why not?" He leaned back, and raised his hips so she could slide his jeans off. "But keep your eyes open, so you'll know it's me."

* * * *

Maddie stretched out in Rob's big, claw-footed bathtub, her back to his chest.

He washed her hair and any other body parts he could reach. "Remind me to thank Zoey, the next time we see her."

Maddie laughed. "Where do you suppose we'll see her? Last I heard, she was backpacking through Europe with Milo, otherwise known as 'Mr. Hairy Ass'. Affectionately, of course."

He shrugged. "We might run into her at some social function. Who knows? But then again, I hope we don't. I'm not ready to share you, and Zoey might try to turn you back to the dark side."

Maddie snickered. "We've covered that ground, remember? I'm a lousy lesbian."

"A fact for which I'll be eternally grateful."

She leaned against him and sighed as his hands formed soapy circles on her stomach. "As long as my past doesn't bother you."

He kissed her cheek. "It made you who you are today. I get a kick hearing about it. And, man, I love this hair." He pulled a strand of her long, wet hair through his lips and sucked on it.

Maddie wiggled her toes on the edge of the tub. "Gee, if we only had another day together, I might have you talked into giving me a pedicure."

Rob chuckled. "I'd do it. I painted Sophie's nails once. Everyone said she looked like a clown."

"Maybe I'll pass, thanks," Maddie reconsidered. "I still wish we had another day together."

"I do, too." He kissed her earlobe. "I don't want to go to sleep tonight. I want to savor every minute with you."

"Me, too." She nestled into him and closed her eyes.

* * * *

Somewhere around three a.m., they lay wrapped around each other after making love. Rob brushed a piece of hair from Maddie's face. "You know, we got so caught up with Zoey that I never did find out how you made it to Oklahoma from Harvard."

Maddie twisted one finger around a patch of his chest hair, twirling it. "I walked away from a two hundred thousand dollar education. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer. They were paying for it. But it wasn't me. Deep down, I knew it would never be me. I couldn't stand up to them, at first, and when I finally could, I did it in the wrong way."

"What did you do?" he asked softly.

"Just what I said. I walked away. The semester ended, I put Zoey and Milo on a plane to Madrid, and I wandered around Cambridge aimlessly. My bags were packed, but I couldn't go back to Hartford. I had a couple of drinks at some dive, smoked a joint with a hooker named Topaz. I think she was a woman. Damn good make-up job if not. I actually bought her a hamburger so she'd stay with me longer. When we left, we passed this place, Jake's Tattoo Emporium. Classy, eh? Well, this Chevy full of Mexican guys hollered at me and Topaz, so I figured I had two choices. Make a quick but disgusting twenty bucks—you realize I'm joking here—or get a tattoo. Topaz ducked into the Chevy, I ducked into Jake's, and I got a heart tattooed on my shoulder. Thank God it was lame pot, or I might have come away with an eagle, or a skull and crossbones, or some such thing."

Maddie didn't realize tears had started to fall, but noticed when they pooled on Rob's chest. He did nothing but hold her tightly and let her talk.

"I ended up at the bus station, and the only place I could think of to go was Zoey's hometown, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She made it sound so great. I always gave her shit about it, of course, a fucking Okie from Muskogee. But there I was, riding a bus for seventy-some-odd hours and ending up in a bus station that looked surprisingly similar to where I started, except it was in Oklahoma. I had some money. Obviously my parents were the ones with the money, but I had a credit card that I managed to max out before my old man cancelled it. I rented a room, scouted out the town and neighboring locations, and got a copy of the help-wanted ads. Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you wish to look at it, Frances was looking to hire a kid wrangler. My reputation was still pretty golden at that point, so I got the job. I called the folks, they had a vague notion of where I was from the credit card company, and told them I was moving to Oklahoma to work at a childcare center. After the maid brought the smelling salts to my mother, and my father went hoarse from yelling at me, I told them thank you, see you, screw you, and hung up. That was five years ago."

She shrugged again. "Why should she? It's not like I broke any laws, if you don't count the damage I did to the Stewart family honor. And I totally cleaned up my act once I got here. I never smoke pot anymore. Truth be told, that's because I wouldn't know where to buy it. But probably not, because of all the weird shit they put in drugs these days. I'm extremely careful about drugs, what with roofies, and all that. Absolutely no drugs. Rosa and I like to go out on the weekends, but we're careful and watch each other's backs. Rosa's probably the best friend I have here."

"Until now," he said softly, and used the bed sheet to dry her face. "Wow, that was quite a story. I'm sorry if it upset you to tell it."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry if it upset you to hear it. I know I fucked up. But in some twisted way, I'm happy here. I like my job, I have some friends. Things are really pretty good."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

He was silent for a moment, and Maddie could tell he chose his words carefully. "You had two years of Harvard under your belt. You took a job working in a childcare center. Why?"

She smiled. "Why didn't I choose something more important? You don't think taking care of children is one of the most important jobs a person could ever do?"

"Well, sure." He backpedaled.

"It's okay. Lots of people feel that way. I happen to think it's a very important job. I love children. They're so fresh and honest about everything. I really like my job, not that there aren't some days I want to pull my hair out, but mostly it's a lot of fun.

"Plus, when I got off the bus, I was fresh off finals, which were grueling. I was looking for a job that I could put in my eight hours, and go home. No homework, no being 'on call', none of that shit. This job filled the bill perfectly, it paid pretty well, and like I said, it all just seemed to work out."

"Fair enough." He rubbed her back. "And lucky for me, too. I am very glad someone referred me to Sunny Days Childcare Center. They provide the most wonderful services." He kissed the tip of her nose, and she burst into laughter. They lay together that way for a few minutes, and he finally asked, "You ever think about going back to school? Finishing those last two years?"

"Probably couldn't get in to Harvard again," she deadpanned.

"You know what I mean." He poked her in the ribs.

"Yeah, I've thought about it. Frances encourages it, in fact. They'd like all their employees to have a degree in Early Childhood Education. Rosa and I picked up the catalogs one time."

"What happened?"

She shrugged. "We gave it some thought, talked it over. We finally decided that whether we have a degree or not, the wheels on the bus are still just gonna go round and round. You know?"

He hugged her to him tightly. "I guess so."

* * * *

Maddie looked through Rob's closet shortly before she left on Sunday. "Look at all these caps!" He had a dozen or so ball caps hanging in the back of his closet, plus two cowboy hats. "I've never seen you wear a cap."

"I wear one at work." He lay back on his bed and watched her snoop. "Keeps the hair out of my face."

"I like it when the hair gets in your face." She pictured him in her mind, rising above her. She hugged her arms to herself and turned back to the shirts hanging in the closet. "Very nice." She looked through them, pulled one out and tried it on. She knotted it at the waist and modeled for him.

"Very, very nice," he agreed, looking her up and down.

She hung the shirt back up and continued to look around his room. With one finger, she gently touched the dream catcher hanging on one wall. There were a few other Native decorations, and the comforter and bed pillows were a southwestern motif of black, brown and teal. It was a masculine room, but not overly so. Maddie thought it was beautiful.

"Can I see the rest of the place?"

Rob stood and motioned to the hall. She wandered out and he followed.

"This place is so beautiful," she commented, admiring Sophie's pink and white room full of toys. "You've done a really nice job decorating."

He leaned against the wall and smiled. "This room was easy. Pink, pink, and whatever goes with pink."

The main bathroom with the big tub was located between his room and Sophie's. "This room is amazing." She admired the black and white, checkered tile floor, which gave it an old-fashioned feel. "Retro." Maddie ran her hand along the black and white towels hanging on the towel rod, with red washcloths tucked alongside. There was a red 'Coke' clock on the wall. "Very, very cool. You did the decorating yourself?"

Maddie looked through the other rooms. Rob had a small bathroom with a shower off his room, a sparsely decorated office, the kitchen, and a living room which was also decorated southwestern style.

"Big living room." Maddie looked around appreciatively. She noticed a thirteen inch television set and added, "Tiny TV."

He chuckled and shook his head. "I hate TV. Don't even have cable. I refuse to line the pockets of Capitalist Corporate America."

She chuckled. "Yet you do have a VCR."

He shrugged. "Someone gave it to me as a gift. I usually don't plug it in because it flashes twelve o'clock at me all the time."

"Ooh, a technophobe? Who'd a thunk it?"

"Sort of. I don't have a cell phone either, but in my defense, there's no signal out here, anyway. Dee couldn't stand that."

"Bummer." Maddie smiled and stepped outside. There was a big wraparound porch off the front, and the smaller, more private porch, off the kitchen in the back. Each porch offered its own view of the land, and both were spectacular. Maddie complimented Rob as she tossed her purse in her car. "Your house is wonderful. I'm amazed and impressed that you designed and built it yourself."

He melded himself against her and murmured, "Well, thank you. I'm amazed and impressed at the beautiful woman I shared the place with this weekend. I really wish it never had to end."

She pressed back against him and kissed him deeply. She finally forced herself to pull away. "Moving ahead might be fun."

He smiled. "Yeah. A little tricky, but fun. I have to be careful because of Sophie."

"I understand. She's your first priority."

He ran his hand down her back and squeezed her behind. "Not that you could tell it lately. I've been a bit, shall we say, preoccupied."

"We'll find a balance."

He nodded, opened her car door, and closed it once she was inside. He leaned in for one more kiss. "I'll call you tonight."

"Looking forward to it already." She winked and headed down the driveway.

Chapter Three

"I'm glad to hear your voice," Maddie told Rob that night when he phoned her. "Here, in my quiet little apartment, there's no evidence that my fairy tale weekend ever happened. Everything looks the same as it always did, but I don't feel the same inside."