Indulgence (43 page)

“Oh Hank, your mom’s really not interested in my work.” At
that moment the wine arrived and she swirled it around her glass, stuck her
nose in, and took a sniff. Then sipped and nodded to the waiter. He poured
three glasses and she took a huge gulp. She was acting strange, knotting her
fingers together in her lap and rubbing them together. Then it dawned on me.
The confident, take-charge businesswoman was nervous.

“Ma, Aspen’s being shy. She’s actually a real big deal. You
know she owns the very building that I’m adding to. Her account is the one I
bid on and won.” I smiled wide and Aspen hung her head.

Strange behavior for her. She’d always been really confident
and screamed powerful woman in a “hear me roar” way since we’d met. Especially
when talking ‘bout her work. She normally was a regular stick of dynamite going
off if you so much as mentioned something she was working on.

Tonight she was trying to downplay her job and I didn’t
understand why.

“Wow! Such a young little thing like you, speaking all those
languages and owning buildings? Amazing.” Ma placed her head in the hand
leaning on the table. She smiled brightly at Aspen and it made me feel tall,
bigger somehow.

“Told you, Ma. My angel is as smart as she is beautiful.”

Her eyes scanned Aspen’s face and body. “She will make
pretty babies for sure!” Mom hinted and winked.

Aspen’s mouth opened and her eyes widen. “Mom! None of that
talk. You’ve got two grandsons already. Don’t be greedy.” Aspen visibly
relaxed. Did she not want children? I wanted kids. I didn’t expect them right
away but in the future, a couple years down the road maybe. I was already
thirty four. I didn’t want to wait too much longer.

Looks like we had yet another thing to add to the growing
list of things to talk about later.

The meal was extremely filling and the wine had been
flowing. Aspen drank more than she usually did and was starting to slur her
words together. I didn’t mind, though, because when she started to drink she couldn’t
keep her hands off me. She was very affectionate and loose-lipped when she
drank, and I planned to take advantage of it once Ma was settled in for the
night.

I took my two best girls home. Of course Aspen had her limo
pick us up and my mom was thrilled to no end. She had never been in a limo
before and went on and on about how exciting and fancy it was. Aspen just
smiled and snuggled into my side, sneaking kisses on my neck when she thought
my mom wasn’t looking. She’d had more to drink than she thought. She wasn’t
inconspicuous at all, but Mom seemed to enjoy the scene. There was no reason to
bring home a woman to my family when I wasn’t planning on keeping her around.
Aspen I planned on keeping around for good. Every so often Mom would look over at
us, a knowing look in her eye.

“You remind me of your father, Punky.”

“Ma, you say that all the time.” I shook my head and
continued pulling my fingers through Aspen’s silky hair.

“I know I do, but seeing you with her reminds me of your
father and I years ago when we were young and only had eyes for each other.”

I tensed and looked down but I needn’t worry about what my
mother was saying. Aspen was fast asleep against my side.

“What do you think, Ma?” I whispered.

“She’s very beautiful,” she said looking at her.

“She is. And smart too,” I added.

She nodded. “And you love her,” she stated flatly. Never
could get one past my mother. Growing up she always knew when Heath and I were
getting’ into mischief or trying to sneak extra cookies. She’d even told Heath on
his first date with Jess that he “was gonna marry that girl” and low and
behold, he did. Now she was reading me like an open book. No use trying to put
off the inevitable.

“I do, Ma.”

“And she doesn’t know yet?” Perceptive my Ma was.

I shook my head.

“Why haven’t you told her?” She wasn’t judging me. I could
tell she was concerned.

“It hasn’t been the right time. I’ve been healin’ up. She’s
been working a lot. I met her family last weekend. It was a disaster.”

“Well, she’s still here with you so it couldn’t have been
that bad. Obviously that means something.” I shrugged. “Do you think she loves
you, dear?”

I closed my eyes. That was the magic question of the year.
Did Aspen love me? And if she did, why? I wasn’t rich. I couldn’t give her the
lifestyle she was used to. Hell, I didn’t even know if I could stay in New York
and not go back home. She’d never leave her company. It was too successful. So
if I wanted her, I’d have to make some sacrifices. Was I prepared to do that? I
didn’t know.

There was a lot still to work through. I know if she loved
me, though, we could get through it all. We’d make it work, somehow.

“I don’t know,” I finally said. “I just don’t know.”

“Well, son, looks like you need to buck up and get yourself
the girl then.”

“You’re right, Ma. But how?”

“We’ll figure it out, baby. Don’t you worry none. Mama’s
here now.”

Somehow I knew my mother was going to get all up in my
business with Aspen. It was surprising how little I cared. I could use all the
help I could get. I did worry about her methods, though.

“Lord help us all,” I whispered into Aspen’s hairline. She
snuggled in deeper and my mother laughed.

Put in grounds. Check. Add water. Good. Press start.
Okay. I can do this.

Gustav was allowed a sick day; I could handle coffee.
Hopefully. If Hank hadn’t woken me after the car ride and proceeded to ravage
me through the night I wouldn’t be so damned tired. The man was insatiable. I
mean, sure, I went through a huge dry spell and have been pretty satisfied over
the past several weeks, but a girl has got to get some sleep. Last night was
something else. It’s as if he was starved and I was his first meal in weeks.
Thinking back, the things he did to me could be considered illegal in some
countries. The man was going to kill me.

Death by orgasm.

The thought gave me a little chuckle. My thighs quivered at
the memory of how many times he brought me to release with his mouth alone.
Jesus!

The coffee dripped slowly as I enjoyed the memories of last
night.

“Mornin’, pretty girl,” I heard the sweet voice of Hank’s
mother.

Hank’s mother … crap!

The fact that we had company had been lost on me in my
sex-induced, sleep-deprived haze. I closed my eyes and tried not to look
completely mortified by my appearance. My hair up haphazardly thrown into a
messy bun, braless, and standing there in nothing but black lace panties,
easily visible through Hank’s white, buttoned-down dress shirt. The one he wore
to dinner last night. It was the first thing I found when I climbed out of bed
this morning. I could feel the flame of embarrassment creep up and across my
chest. Not only was his mother going to hate me, she was going to think I was a
hoochie, too. Way to make a great impression.

Gripping the edges of the shirt, I tried in vain to pull it
down to cover up more of my bare legs. It didn’t work. Fate sealed, I turned
around. She looked bright and chipper, perfectly put together this sunny
morning. God, I wanted to hate her so bad. “Good morning. Coffee?”

“Sure, thanks.” She beamed a full glowing megawatt smile.
Did
everyone in his family wake up happy?
Hank was the same way. Her eyes took
in my clothing or lack thereof. “Looks like you had quite the evening.”

A flush swept across my entire body. My skin must have been
bright pink. “I’m so sorry. Honestly, I forgot you were here. This is highly
inappropriate … ”

She cut me off. “Are you kidding? I’m married to a Jensen,
honey. If Hank is anything like my Henry, and based on what you’re wearin’,”
she pointed a finger up and down and then stopped at the collar of my shirt,
“and that huge love bite there on your neck says he is, you could end up
permanently bow-legged.”

There was only one way to handle this conversation.
Laughter. Deep, huge bouts of belly aching guffaws overtook me. Tears sluiced
down my face. Hank entered wearing only pajama bottoms, his massive,
beautifully honey-colored skin on perfect display. He came over to me and
patted my back.

“I’m guessing you’re responsible for this?” He gestured to
his mom while I tried and failed to contain my hysterics.

“That one’s a hair trigger,” she shrugged, smiling.

“In more ways than one,” he whispered sexily in my ear,
which only brought on a new bout of tears and snorts.

Hank lifted me up from my bent over position. His hand
landed on my waist, the other on my neck. “Better, Darlin’?” he asked, wiping
away the errant tears. I nodded. “You’re so purdy when you cry.” He kissed me
full on the mouth in front of his mother. He pulled back and searched my face.
“Also real purdy when you blush.” He smirked and winked, then let me go to pull
out three mugs.

“No need to be embarrassed, Pen. You both are adults. Ain’t
no judgment here. I just love seein’ my boy smile.”

I looked over at Hank. He was leaning his large form against
the counter, absently strumming his fingers against the granite, waiting for
the coffee to finish dripping. His chest shone bright with a sprinkling of hair
that I loved to scratch my nails through.

Without realizing it, I had reached over and ran my hand
down his chest and back up to inspect his scar from the surgery. I leaned my
lips against the puckered flesh and gave it a soft kiss. Loving this scar,
kissing it was now part of my daily routine. He walked around bare-chested and
I looked and touched my fill.

Each morning it was my duty to bathe his scar with kisses
sending up a silent prayer to God for his sacrifice. His groan at the feel of
my lips against his skin was matched by a gasp from behind us. I ventured a
look over at his mother. Her eyes were pooling with unshed tears.

“I’m okay, Mom, really.”

“I can see that. It’s just I’ve waited for a long time to
see this.” Her statement made absolutely no sense to me, but Hank smiled and
pulled me closer.

The day continued on just like that, except Hank’s mother
doted on him all day. Jumped up every chance she could to get him drinks, or a
snack. He was eating it up, literally and figuratively. She rehashed old
stories of Hank growing up. I paid close attention to the tales of him hiding
girls in the barn and sneaking out after dark.

Laughed so hard I cried when she told the story of Hank
making out with a girl in his dad’s old Chevy. Things had gotten a little
heated with the girl and they knocked the gear shift and the truck backed into
a ditch. Of course Hank tried to recant her version of the story and said it
was an accident. They weren’t making out like lovesick teenagers.

“That was little Susie Q, right? Your high school
sweetheart?” his mother asked.

“It was,” Hank stopped talking and looked introspective for
a moment.

“Oh, Hank was so smitten with Susie Shoemaker. I was
convinced you two were going to marry. You know, I just heard she got divorced
recently.” She pinched her lips to the side in thought.

“Is that so?” Hank asked his interest piqued.

“What ever happened between you to?” I asked. Curious as to
why he didn’t stay with his high-school sweetheart.

“Nothin’.” Hank stiffened and pulled his arm from behind my
shoulders. “I really don’t want to talk about Susie. It was a long time ago.
How’s my brother and his rug rats?”

Hank steered the conversation back to safer territory. Both
his mother and I picked up on his discomfort and let it go. If he wasn’t
comfortable talking about it, I didn’t really want to know. Technically, I was
lying to myself. I did want to know what had him in a snit and planned on
asking about it when we were alone.

I left Hank and his mother mid-afternoon to catch a nap and
give them some time alone. A few hours had passed and the sun was setting on
the horizon when I woke to the sound of my belly grumbling. I took a quick
shower and threw on a comfy jersey house dress. It was form-fitting in the way
that yoga pants were, but nothing overtly sexual. It was a soft gray and felt
more like a long t-shirt than a dress. Slowly, I made my way through the house
to where I could hear Hank and his mother talking. I heard my name, so I held
back to listen a few moments.

“Aspen’s lovely, Punky, and it’s obvious how she feels about
you.”

I strained to hear his reply. “I like her, too, Ma. More
than I should.” His voice seemed sad, not like himself.
Why would he say it
like that? More than he should? What did it mean?

“Are you going to bring her back home when the job is done?”
she asked.

“I don’t know if she’d want to come. Ma, it’s not like you
and Dad. We haven’t even had a discussion about what this is between us.”

Dread trickled its way up my spine landing on the tiny hairs
behind my neck. The feeling was unfamiliar with an extra dose of unpleasant.

“Punky, as much as you seem to like this girl and she you, I
mean, you’re a Jensen, what’s not to like?” she laughed then continued, “A long
distance relationship would never work. You know that, right?”

It sounded like Hank sighed. Defeat ringing clearly in the
tone. “I do know that.”

The wall was cold against my palms. The thought of Hank
going home, us not seeing each other every day, was like sticking a sharp knife
into my gut. In such a small amount of time, this man had become a regular
fixture in my world. Something I could count on seeing when I got home. The
person I could vent to, laugh with, make love to. But, it couldn’t work.

His home, his ranch, his beautiful family were in Texas.
Mine were here. Would he give it up to be with me in an undefined relationship?
Could I for him? We hadn’t even shared how we felt about one another. How was I
supposed to wrap my mind around my feelings for him when all I could think
about now was that we only had a few short weeks left?