Illusion of Luck (23 page)

He had only slept three
hours—until noon. But that would be enough to sustain him for the
15-hour drive to Orlando. He didn’t need much sleep—especially when
he thought about
her
.

Soon Greg and Cynthia would be in bed and
Greg would finally have a chance to prove his manhood. But, of
course, he would not be able to satisfy her. He seemed like a nice
guy, and Larry was certain Greg would give it his best shot. But
anybody could see he was way out of his league.

Cynthia needed a
real
man—not
some
girly
man. Greg would be kind and gentle, and say sweet things to
her—like a
woman
would do. That just wouldn’t cut it for the super-hot
redhead.

Larry
was what she really
needed—even though she might not realize it. He would tear her
clothes off, throw her down and ride her hard. That was the only
way to make her happy. Domination.

So, he would rescue her from the sad
disappointment she had married. She would resist—but mostly to
spare Greg’s feelings. Why should a fine woman such as Cynthia be
sentenced to life with a limp lover?

All Larry had to do was rent
a motel room near Disney World, catch her alone and take her away.
Once she had a good taste of
Larry
Lover
, she would never want to go back
to Greg.

**********

Greg pushed the third floor button and the
elevator doors closed.

“
Can’t wait to get in the
shower,” said Cynthia.

“
I hope the bed is
comfortable.”

“
Right now I think I could
sleep on the floor if I had to.”

They walked off the elevator and down to
their room. Greg sat the overnight bags down, unlocked the door,
pushed it open, and held it with his foot.

“
I think we need to try this
again,” he said, extending his arms.

“
Good idea.” She smiled and
let him pick her up.

“
My dear Mrs.
Tenorly,
this
is the
official
carrying over the
threshold.”

“
So noted, Mr.
Tenorly.”

Greg carried her into the room. He expected
a quick peck on the lips before she got down, but instead she gave
him a soft, sensual kiss and then looked deep into his eyes. “I
love you so much, Baby.”

Then she jumped down and ran for the
bathroom. “First dibs on the shower.”

“
Cheater,” said Greg
playfully.

He opened the door and grabbed their
overnight bags from the hallway. Their suitcases would be delivered
soon.

Greg could hear the shower running.

“
Okay if I bring your bag
in?”

“
Sure, Honey. Come on
in.”

Greg opened the bathroom door just enough to
slip the bag in. Then he closed it, walked over to the TV, and
picked up the remote.

When Cynthia finally came out, he was
sitting on the bed watching the Disney promotional channel.

“
Look at this cool new ride,
Sweetie,” he said without turning around.

“
Can’t wait to ride it with
you.”

Greg glanced up and saw her
in the mirror standing behind him. She was wearing a lacy red
nightgown. It was conservative—not too revealing, but very sexy.
But then again, Greg thought, she’d look just as sexy to him if she
was wearing
overalls
. How about when she’s
wearing
nothing
? He feared his head would explode. Well, maybe not his
head
. He turned
around “You look amazing, Cynthia.”

She smiled. “Thanks.
I
feel
a lot
better now.”

“
Okay. My turn.”

He picked up his bag and walked way around
her to get to the bathroom.

“
Afraid I’ll try to attack
you?”

“
No. I’m afraid
you’ll
smell
me—now you’re all clean and fresh.”

Greg went into the bathroom and closed the
door.

Cynthia teased him through
the door. “That’s right. I’m fresh as a daisy, waiting to be
picked. And I want you to pick me, and pick me
good
. You can pick me
all night long
.”

Greg cracked the door and peeked out. “Look,
it’s hard enough to wait as it is, without you saying stuff like
that.” He stuck out his tongue at her and then closed the door.

“
Oh, really? So, I’m making
it
harder
to
wait? Well, that’s good. I like it harder.”

“
Quit saying that or it may
not
be
harder
by the time I get out there.”

“
Okay. I’ll leave you alone.
Happy showering, Baby.”

Greg stripped quickly,
throwing his clothes in the corner. Then he stopped and took a deep
breath. He wanted to get out to her as soon as possible, but he
decided to slow down just a little. If he tried to break the
world’s record for showering speed, he might slip down and break an
arm. And the emergency room was the last place he wanted to spend
the night. Not that it was nighttime. It wasn’t even
dinner time
yet.

Why was he thinking about the time of day
and dinner? He was about to get into that king size bed and make
love to the most beautiful, caring, loving woman he had ever known.
His only regret was that he hadn’t met her much sooner.

Why not ten years ago when he was only 25?
No, he thought, that was too far back. She was only 20 then. Maybe
five years ago when they were 30 and 25. And why had they both
fallen for the wrong people and had to suffer through unhappy
marriages?

But maybe they wouldn’t have
been right for each other five years ago. Perhaps the exact time
they met was
the
only perfect time for them to meet. Did God plan it this way?
He didn’t know for sure, but he did
thank
God for her every
day.

When he walked out of the bathroom he was
disappointed to see that she was already asleep. That was okay, he
thought. They were both exhausted.

He turned off the TV.

There was a knock at the door.

It was their luggage. He had the man quietly
carry it into the room. Then he tipped the man, and closed and
locked the door.

Just before turning off the last lamp, Greg
took a few seconds to savor the vision before him. His lovely
bride looked like a sleeping princess. A sleeping beauty, he
thought. How fitting.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had
taken a nap in the afternoon—and under the covers.

Once his eyes had adjusted, there was just
enough light seeping through the drapes that Greg could see Cynthia
lying there—three feet away. He slid over, trying not to wake her.
But when he leaned in to kiss her delicately on the lips, she
immediately began to kiss him back.

She scooted closer to him and put her arm
around him under the covers. He responded in kind. It was then that
he realized she was naked. What had she done with the gown? Who
cared? “I thought you were asleep.”

“
I was just
resting.”

“
Your body feels so
amazing.”

“
Well, thank you. I’m glad
you like it.”

He kissed her cheek and then began to nibble
on her ear lobe.

She moaned and moved in closer.

Greg could feel her firm nipples against his
chest.

He felt like the man who received a huge
refund check. The guy was overjoyed—until the IRS realized their
mistake and took the money back.

He looked into her eyes, which were barely
visible in the faint light. “I don’t deserve you.”

“
Yes, you do. And
I
deserve
you
. We deserve to
be happy together for the rest of our lives.”

Greg thought about it for a
second. One thing he knew for sure: there had never
been
and would
never
be
another man who could love Cynthia as much as he
did.

“
You know what?” he said.
“You’re exactly right.”

“
I’m glad you agree. But is
that all you have for me today, Mister? Just a lot of
talk?”

As she spoke, she ran her soft hand down his
back and across his butt.

He watched her lips form a
sexy smile as she said, “Don’t you have something more
substantial
for me?”
She slid her hand around to the front. “Oh—wait a second.
This
is what
I
want
.”

And he was more than happy to give his wife
exactly what she wanted.

Chapter
31

“
I don’t know if I feel like
watching a movie, Crow,” said Chaucey.

“
Ah, come on—it’s supposed
to be really funny.”

She sat down on his couch. “What’s the name
of it?”

“
Flushed
Away
. It’s animated.” He handed her the
pizza box. “Here—dig in.”

“
Thanks.” She took out two
slices and put them on her paper plate.

“
So, they got your door
fixed?”

“
Yeah.”

“
How much did they charge
you? I want to pay for it.”

“
That’s okay. Don’t worry
about it.”

“
Hey,
I’m
the one who busted
it.”

“
Yeah, but you did it to
save
me
.
There’s no way I’m letting you pay for it.”

Crow slid four slices of pizza onto his
plate. “Did you get any work done today?” He took a big bite out of
a slice. “Or did you rest all day?”

“
I worked for a little
while, but I had trouble concentrating.”

“
You’ll feel better
tomorrow. I’m sure your bed is lot more comfortable than
mine.”

“
It was fine, Crow. And you
were so sweet, letting me have your bed while you slept here on the
couch.”

“
Happy to do it for
you.”

He took a sip from his Dr. Pepper and then
clicked the remote to play the DVD.

Just as the movie as started, he heard
Chaucey sniffling. “You okay?”

She nodded.

But Crow noticed that her eyes were puffy.
“Are you sure?”

She broke down and wept.

He stopped the movie, sat his plate down and
slid across the couch to her.

“
What’s the matter?” He put
his arm around her.

She dropped her plate on the coffee table
and put her head in her hands and cried.

“
He gave me nightmares last
night.”

“
I’m sorry,
Chaucey.”

“
And I was so tired all day,
but every time I tried to take a nap I saw his face.”

“
I just want to
break
his face,”
said Crow.

She looked at him and smiled for a brief
moment, and then started crying again.

“
I just don’t understand how
you got involved with the guy.”

“
It was stupid. He’s writing
a novel online and I was reading it, and I thought it was really
good. So, I left a comment and he responded.”

“
Okay. So, how did that lead
to you meeting him in a motel room?”

She cried louder. “I was an idiot. He could
have raped me and killed me right there. I was lucky to get
away.”

“
It’s okay. You’re safe
now.”

“
I don’t know what I was
thinking. And he had that other woman with him—it must have been
the redhead from the novel. Apparently, his book is
not
fiction. No
wonder it sounded so real when he talked about the main character
poisoning his girlfriend and burning up her body in a barbecue
pit. He must have really done that!”

“
That’s awful.”

“
And if he murdered his
girlfriend, he wouldn’t have hesitated to kill me—at the motel or
in my apartment. I’m telling you, Crow, you got there just in the
nick of time.”

Crow felt a sudden rush of anger. He wanted
to take Barry out into the woods, grab him up in his powerful, big
hands and break him over his knee like a skinny, dried-out tree
branch. Then he would use his body for kindling to build a roaring
campfire.

Having those thoughts made
Crow think he was no better than Barry. He couldn’t really do that,
could he? But it was painful to see Chaucey hurting so much. And
would she ever really feel safe, knowing Barry was still out there
somewhere? Crow wouldn’t necessarily have to
kill
him. He could just torture
him for a while and then turn him over to the police. But first
he’d have to find him.

Then he had an idea. “What was that man’s
name who came by with his friends last night, asking about his
wife?”

“
The redhead’s husband.”
Chaucey had a talent for remembering names. “It was Greg…Tenory.
No—Tenorly. Greg Tenorly.”