Lone Star Burn: Love On Tap (Kindle Worlds Novella) (8 page)

“I’ve never experienced such a beautiful climax. You blew my mind. Your boys were primed and ready to feed the dragon.”

“I’m embarrassed to admit I’m as wet as you are. I like that. Your girls and my boys. I promise you, Jennie: before you leave, I’ll make love to you the proper way.”

“I won’t be disappointed if we can’t, because you have just given me the greatest pleasure I’ve ever experienced.”

“Just think about the pleasure you’ll have when I am deep inside you.” He lowered his forehead to hers and groaned. “Damn, you’re making me hard just thinking about what I’m going to do to you. Jennie, there’s something I want you to know. I’ve never let another woman play with my hair. It’s much too intimate and personal.”

“See, that’s why this moment is so special and a first for both of us. Now I’m going to take a shower and let you get back to work. I’ve got a lot of packages arriving tomorrow, and I’m going to start making things for the party.”

“I’ll try to get home a little earlier, but I can’t promise. I’m going to call the sheriff to let him know what’s going on. Now I need three more kisses.”

“Three?”

“Yup, one for me and one for each of my boys.”

Jennie burst out laughing and gave him one more, for good measure.

The next three days, the house bustled with activity. She’d become best friends with the UPS man. All of the items she’d ordered for the party arrived, along with her clothes, but she’d need a few things from the market in Fort Mavis, and planned to explore the little town on Friday.

Larry and Boomer and their crew dismantled the furniture and painted the room a pale gold. She provided lunch and chocolate fudge brownies. They were most appreciative.

There were no more repeats of the “boys” meeting the “girls”; not that the sexual tension between her and Grayson disappeared. It increased hour by hour. Gray cornered her a few times with very hot kisses, but they were very discreet.

Jen took her specialty dish out of the oven and set it on a hot pad in the middle of the table. Gray had come home early and was already working in his new home office, since all the additional cable work had been completed that morning. He’d surprised Matt and had a smaller desk set up in the office for him to do his homework. The almost-ten-year-old was in heaven with the state-of-the-art wall screen Gray planned to use during FaceTime meetings with the managers in his other locations.

She walked down the hall, poked her head into the new office, and smiled. They were working, hard. Both had controllers. Their video game filled the wall screen and the sound blasted from the surround-sound speakers. “Anyone interested in dinner?” They both looked up at the same time and offered matching smiles. They could pass for father and son.

“I can’t believe you made this,” Grayson said, and started on his second helping.

“It’s my specialty: Jen’s Chicken Pot Pie. Every time I go to a potluck dinner, I bring one and everyone wants the recipe.”

Matt ate everything on his plate and started on his applesauce. “Uncle Gray, what does it mean when you call someone a blond-haired floozy?”

A bucket of ice water in the face couldn’t have shocked her more. Jennie looked up from her own plate and met Grayson’s troubled look across the table.

Gray forced himself to remain calm in front of Mathew, and continued to eat. “Where did you hear that?”

“The three girls who sit at my lunch table said I have a blond-haired floozy living in our house. I think they meant Jennie. They said she’s warming your bed. I told them she’s very nice, and they were jealous because I have homemade cookies in my lunch.”

“People can be mean and say things to hurt another person’s feelings. I’m proud of you defending her. Jennie sleeps in her own bed.”

It took all of her self-control not to get up and punch something. She worked with children enough to know how cruel they could be to one another. “Mathew, you’re my hero,” she said, and gave him a high five. “For that, we’ll have ice cream sundaes for dessert.”

“Go finish your homework and I’ll be in to finish our game in a little while,” Gray said. “I want to have coffee with Jennie.”

The moment Matt was out of sight, Grayson stood up and shoved away from the table like a caged lion that had just been set free. He remembered to keep his voice low. “Son of a bitch! Who the hell would start such vicious rumors?”

“Cruel, nasty people, but I know someone who has it in for both of us: Burt.”

Grayson drew Jennie from her chair and secured her in his arms. “I’m so sorry, Jennie.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. It’s just like you said—people can be mean.”

“I can’t believe you aren’t more upset.”

“Just because we’re calmly discussing the situation doesn’t mean I’m not furious inside. I’m not as concerned about my reputation as I am about Mathew’s party. All but one said they were coming, and I pray no one will change their mind. It would break his heart.”

“Shit, I hadn’t thought of his party.”

“Have you met the parents of the boys he invited?”

“I better, since five of the eight work for me.”

“That puts my mind at ease a little. We only have three who might change their minds. If I were you, I’d reach out to the boys’ parents personally and assure them there isn’t any funny business going on. I think it would be a good idea if I disappeared once the party got started. I could drive into San Antonio and stay at a hotel for the night.”

“Absolutely not! That would be giving the gossipmongers exactly what they want. There is no way you are leaving me alone in this house with a bunch of out-of-control pre-adolescents.  Mathew would be disappointed if you weren’t here.”

“If that’s what you want, and I really don’t want to miss anything. You mentioned having one of your bouncers here to corral the kids, especially when we play the games and have the scavenger hunt. He would be an unofficial chaperone. I’m sure Boomer wouldn’t mind taking on a bunch of little boys, since he’s so proficient at taking care of the big boys. Loretta’s son is invited and she could give me a hand with the food.”

“Very funny, Ms. Jennie. I hate to agree with your suggestion, but it’s a very good idea.”

“I’ll order him a sleeping bag and two more costumes this evening and get priority delivery. They’ll fit right in with you and me.”

“You never said we would be wearing costumes.”

“Did I fail to mention we’re dressing up for the party?”

“You certainly did! What costume did you order for me?”

She gave him a secretive smile. “You’ll have to wait until Saturday night.”

“Apparently we’ve solved the party problem, but what are we going to do about your floozy reputation?”

“Tomorrow I have to go to the market, and Malibu Barbie is going to take Fort Mavis by storm.”

Chapter 6

When Mathew left for school Friday morning, Jennie went into her bedroom to prepare for her grand entrance into the gossip-laden town. Embarrassing Grayson or Matt was the last thing she wanted to do. He’d spoken to all of his employees, and they assured him their sons would be coming to the party. Apparently Larry had mentioned how gracious she’d been to everyone when they worked at the house, providing food, and offered to help paint. She did, indeed, have her own bedroom.

She set out her clothes on the bed. Her new camel-colored tailored slacks and a shrimp-colored silk blouse with pearl buttons down the front would make her look chic. Her wedge sandals would be perfect, and she’d gather her hair in a neat twist at the base of her neck, leaving a few curly tendrils caressing her temples. Three graduated lengths of gold chains and large gold hoops would complete a high-class appearance. They expected to see a floozy with loose morals, but she’d turn the tables on them. Dr. Jennifer Reynolds, Ph.D. was about to take on the town of Fort Mavis.

She loved driving Gray’s Maserati and got gas first, but used her own credit card. No sense giving them something else to talk about. She stopped in at the local pharmacy and selected a high-end brand of toiletries she’d need for the rest of her trip home. The young female clerk was curious, pleasant, but asked for ID when Jennie used her credit card.

Her next stop was a gift shop that featured local artists. She selected a painting of wild horses and had it shipped to her brother and his wife. A pair of hand-painted originals caught her eye when she was about to leave. The first one was of a lone gray wolf standing on a small cliff, looking over the rich, fertile land below. His strong body was straight as an arrow, with his head thrown back in triumph. The wild animal’s powerful jaw was open and appeared to be howling in declaration. The second one was of his mate. The artist had painted the lighter gray female wolf and her two cubs exiting a stone den.

She purchased both with the stipulation that the painting of the male wolf be delivered to Grayson Wolff’s home in two weeks. It was to be a surprise. The one with the female and her cubs was to be shipped to her brother’s address in Laurel Heights. It would look great in her new office. The older woman who owned the store couldn’t have been more gracious, since Jennie spent a thousand dollars. She’d deliver the painting to Mr. Wolff’s home personally.

Fort Mavis Savings and Loan was her next stop. Before she could walk up to the window to cash a personal check, the manager approached her with a forced smile that didn’t reach his eyes and asked how he could be of help. She went through the I’m-a-stranger-in-town routine. When she mentioned the name of her host, he puffed out his chest and took care of her personally.

Presenting the persona of an uptown, well-spoken woman had knocked them off their high horse. Inside, Malibu Barbie gave herself a high five.

Her last stop was the market to get very specific items for the party. She slowly pushed her cart up and down the aisles and wasn’t oblivious to the curious glances from the other customers. Most were women. She helped an older woman reach an item on the top shelf because she was too short, and was given a very friendly smile in return.

Before entering one of the five checkout lines, she reviewed the items in her cart. The green Gatorade would be Yoda soda. The small figurine of Hans Solo she’d purchased would be trapped inside blue Jell-O she’d call carbonite, and the giant marshmallows were needed to make Storm Trooper pops. It was going to be fun painting the faces on them this afternoon using a black edible paint pen. She went a little overboard selecting bags of candy needed for the piñata in the shape of Darth Vader’s helmet. The giant red gumballs would go in a separate bowl to represent thermal detonators.

Yesterday afternoon, she’d made oatmeal raisin cookies, added white candy eyes, and called them Wookie cookies. Matt went bananas when she showed him the pretzel sticks she’d dipped in red, blue, and white melting chocolate to represent light sabers. He declared this was going to be the best party ever.

When she approached the checkout line, three women huddled together, and their quick glances in her direction were obvious. They had school-age children, considering all the sugarcoated cereal, juice boxes, and fruit chewies in their carts. One of the women’s cell phone rang, and Jennie was close enough to hear the woman say, “She’s here now.”

The small-town grapevine was going strong. She’d better get used to the way locals communicated, since she was moving to a rural area that shared the same characteristics. These three were primed for gossip, and Jennie was about to feed their catty addiction.

Jennie changed direction and approached them with a forced smile. “I couldn’t help but notice you were glancing in my direction, and thought I’d introduce myself. I’m Jennifer Reynolds. You’ve probably heard I’m staying with Grayson Wolff and his nephew. He felt responsible, since many of my belongings were destroyed in his parking lot the other evening. Grayson was kind enough to offer me a place to stay. Apparently the local motel is being fumigated because of beetle infestation.”

They gave her tense smiles but kept their mouths closed. They’d been caught, and never expected to be confronted by the woman who was the hot topic of ridicule.

“From the eager expressions on your faces, you’re dying to know what’s going on with Grayson Wolff and me.” She paused and gave them a wicked smile you’d only share with your best friend. “Let’s face it. We’re all girls and can appreciate a gorgeous, sexy stud, so you all want to know what he looks like naked. Does he have magic in his fingertips when he explores a woman’s body? Is he a great kisser? And the coup de grâce: is he really hot in bed?”

Jennie had been right all along. The women didn’t appear to be the least bit shocked by her frank questions. “Sorry to disappoint you ladies, but you’ll have to complete your own lustful fantasies about Grayson Wolff, because I’ve never shared his bed.

“These are the questions I can answer. Number one: What am I really doing at the Wolff residence? I’ve taken over the duties of his housekeeper, since Vanessa had her baby early and he couldn’t get someone at a moment’s notice to stay with his ten-year-old nephew. Number two: When am I leaving? A week from Sunday. Number three: Why all the activity this past week in Grayson’s home? He’s establishing a home office so he can spend more time with Mathew.” She glanced at their carts. “It’s obvious you all have children, and you should get your minds out of the gutters. Grayson would never invite a woman to share his bed while an innocent sleeps one room away.”