Running Wilde (The Winnie Wilde Series Book 1) (4 page)

They moved together, finding their rhythm. Ben the younger but the more experienced, guiding her, controlling the timing until they both exploded in orgasm – she first, he right behind her. They lay together on the clothes, panting and spent. When Winnie began gently weeping, Ben didn’t ask questions, but gathered her into his arms and held her tight until she stopped.

CHAPTER FIVE

“I did him,” she whispered into the phone with urgency after telling Kathy about Ben from the running trail showing up at her home in place of middle-aged Don Church.

“Good for you,” Kathy said on the other end of the line.

“No, not good.” Winnie paused. “Well, yes, it was good. Damn good. But I don’t even know him. He showed up this morning to do some repair work and I just about jumped him before he came through the door.”

Kathy laughed.

“I’m a tramp, Kathy,” Winnie continued. “I did him on my kitchen floor without a second thought.”

“You’re not a tramp. You both wanted each other and you’re both free.” Kathy paused. “He is free, isn’t he?”

“Shit,” Winnie said, running a hand through her hair. She was sitting on the edge of the tub in the master bathroom with the door closed. “I don’t even know. He could be married with three kids, for all I know.”

“I doubt that, but before you jump his bones again, find out,” Kathy advised. “Now I gotta run. But keep me in the loop. And you’re not a tramp, Win. Come on, repeat after me. Say,
I’m not a tramp
.”

“I’m not a tramp.”

“Good girl,” Kathy said with a chuckle.

“But I feel like a tramp,” Winnie shot back before Kathy hung up.

“You okay?” Ben asked. He stood at the doorway to her bedroom dressed again in his jeans, t-shirt and boots.

When Ben got up and disappeared into the downstairs bathroom, Winnie had scooped up her clothes and scampered up the stairs to the master bedroom where she’d locked herself in the adjoining bathroom and called Kathy. After the call, she took a quick shower. When Ben found her she was wrapped in a long silk robe, sitting on an upholstered chaise. It was her favorite spot in the house. The chaise was located next to a large sliding glass door that led to a narrow balcony. Seated, she could only see thick treetops and sky. It was where she did a lot of her thinking, reading, and reflection.

She glanced over at him and smiled. “Yes, Ben, I’m fine. More than fine.”

He walked over to her and looked down with concern. “Are you sorry we made love?”

Winnie turned her head and glanced out at the trees with their full leafy crowns, then turned to look at him. She shook her head as tears started to well in her eyes again. Ben sat on the edge of the chaise and took one of her hands in his. “Then what’s the matter?”

“It’s silly, really,” Winnie said, waving her other hand to dismiss her concerns. “I just never knew it could feel like that.”

“You’ve never had an orgasm before?”

“No, I have, but not like that. I thought those types of things only happened in movies and trashy romance novels.” She laughed and sniffed. Pulling a tissue from the pocket of her robe, she wiped her eyes and nose. “I’m just a silly old woman who behaved badly.”

Ben shook his head. “You’re far from old and certainly not silly. And you didn’t do anything bad. In fact, you were quite good.”

She shot him a surprised look, but didn’t say a thing.

“I may be overstepping here, but didn’t you and your husband,” his voice trailed off before he finished.

“I’ve only been with two men before today,” she told him. “In spite of how slutty I just behaved. My first experience was with my first boyfriend in college.” She laughed lightly as she remembered. “We were both virgins so there was a lot of clumsy bumping and poking. Then I met Edward, my now ex-husband, at the end of my sophomore year, and since then it’s been only him. He was a decent lover, at least when we were first together, but it was more mechanical than passionate.” She paused, then added with a blush. “Most of my orgasms were … um … self-induced.” She looked quickly away, embarrassed by her confession, and wondered why she’d told him that.

Ben put a hand under her chin and turned her face back toward him. He had a big grin plastered on his face. “Good for you! Nothing wrong with that.”

“You sound like Kathy.”

“Who’s Kathy?” he asked as he traced her face with gentle fingers.

“She’s my best friend. Has been since before you were born. She gave me a sex toy for my birthday.”

Ben grinned. “I like her already.”

As she looked into his young face, Winnie couldn’t help but think about how different her generation was from his. Sex wasn’t dirty or hidden away; it was celebrated as a normal part of life. There were fewer strings and certainly less guilt. For a brief moment she wondered if Tiffany was comfortable with her sexuality and if she wasn’t, was it Winnie’s fault? Of its own accord, her mind wandered to Ben’s father. Did Don Church take care of his wife as well as his son took care of his partners? Was the comfort level taught at home? Did Don pat his wife on the fanny in front of the kids, or plant big wet kisses on her. Edward had barely touched her in front of Chet and Tiffany, except for the perfunctory peck on the cheek when he got home at night, and sex was always quiet and after the kids were sound asleep and never in the morning. His parents appeared stiff like that, too. Her own were much more demonstrative, hugging and kissing often, even when they got older.”

When Ben’s hand moved away from her face to the sash at her waist, Winnie stopped him. “Are you,” she stammered, “are you married?”

He shook his head. “No, never have been.”

She searched his face for signs of deceit and found none. There was no guile or guilt in his eyes. He was either telling the truth or a very good liar. Making up her mind, she removed her hand from his. Slowly he undid the sash and opened the robe, exposing her nakedness beneath. He bent down and kissed each nipple, his mouth trailing down her breasts and across her stomach.

“Your skin is so soft and smooth,” he said between kisses, making Winnie very glad she’d had the torturous deep scrub at the spa the day before.

When Ben’s mouth continued its march down her body and into the softness between her legs. Winnie let out a small cry of surprise.

Ben raised his head. “I just had the one condom. Do you have any?”

When she shook her head, he smiled and said, “No problem. Plan B is good too.”

He slipped off the chaise so that he was on his knees at the end of it. Latching his arms under each of her legs, he dragged Winnie down to the end of the chaise. She yelped in surprise. He spread her legs and his fingers gently probed and tickled. Winnie squirmed and giggled. When his tongue entered her, she squealed with delight and wondered if they’d ever get any work done.

An hour and a half later, Winnie found Ben in the laundry room downstairs. He’d gone downstairs and got to work right after they’d finished playing while she’d taken another quick shower and redressed. She’d also texted Kathy:
We did it again. I may be a tramp, but I’m a happy tramp.

Kathy responded quickly,
Call me tonight!

Ben had pulled the washer and dryer away from the wall and was examining the plumbing behind them when he heard her steps on the tile. “My dad was right,” he said without looking at her, “there is a leak back here, but it should be easy to fix.” He poked his head out from behind the washer and studied her. “No tears, this time?” He winked at her.

“No tears.” She laughed. “It’s almost lunch time. I was going to make myself a chicken salad sandwich. Would you like one?”

“Sure. Sounds a lot better than my usual burger.”

“I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

Winnie was worried that lunch might be awkward, but it wasn’t. Ben was very comfortable to be around and he never once made any reference to their morning activities. It wasn’t like they were pretending it never happened, just that they were at ease with each other and could fill their break with pleasantries. He told her that he was the middle child, sandwiched between two sisters; the oldest was married with two small children. His youngest sister was studying fashion design. His mother was a Latina and he and his sisters were brought up bi-lingual. Even his father spoke perfect Spanish. He said he’d like to expand Church Construction and had talked to his father about it.

Winnie told him about her children and Emily. She told him she didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up, which made him laugh. Then she told him about her dream of writing and he didn’t laugh.

“I’m going to go around the house and fix all of the plumbing problems first,” he told her as he wolfed down cookies after his sandwich. “Then I want to fix the doors.”

“Doors?” she asked as she took their dirty dishes to the counter.

“I noticed that the door in the downstairs bathroom doesn’t close right and when it is closed, it sticks.”

She nodded, “Yes, I forgot to put that on the list. Thank you.”

“I’ll fix it and then check all the other doors. I’ll make sure they are all easy to open and close, oil some hinges. It’s minor stuff, and easy to take care of, but you don’t want a prospective buyer struggling with a door.”

“How long before you think you’ll start painting?” she asked him.

“Why?” he asked with a slow grin. “You anxious to get rid of me?”

“No, not at all,” Winnie said a bit too quickly, then realized he was teasing her. “No,” she said again with an amused shake of her head. “I just need time to decide on colors and pick up some paint chips.” She glanced out the door leading to the garage. “By the way, the pool side of the garage might also need painting. There’s a stain on it. I forgot to show that to your father.” She came back to the table and refilled his iced tea. “We had the house painted just a couple of years ago and I think there’s some extra paint in the garage to match it.”

“I’ll check out the stain and see if it needs painting or just some scrubbing.” He ate the rest of his last cookie and washed it down with some tea. “Now back to work.” He stood up. “What are your plans for the day?”

“I’m going to begin going through upstairs closets and start sorting and tagging things. Some of it will go to charity and some to storage,” she said. “I’m hoping my kids will come over this weekend and take care of the things they left behind.”

Ben looked around. “This is a big house. It will be a lot of work.”

She nodded. “Yes, but it has to be done. My ex still has a lot of his stuff here.” She laughed. “Maybe I should put those things in a big pile in the driveway and light them on fire. I saw that in a movie once.”

Ben reached out and touched her face. “Don’t be bitter, Winnie. It doesn’t suit you. And he was the loser here, not you.”

“Thank you, Ben.” She cupped a hand over his. “The truth is, after the shock of his leaving, I was rather relieved. One of us should have left a long time ago.”

She got up and went to the sink to rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. “By the way, my cleaning lady comes every Thursday. Her name is Nadia.”

Ben had taken a couple steps back toward the laundry room and stopped. “I guess Thursday is our no-play day then.” He grinned.

Winnie turned off the water in the sink. Grabbing a kitchen towel, she dried her hands and turned toward him. She started to say something, something that had been on her mind for the past couple of hours, but was worried that it would make her sound paranoid and needy. Instead, she said, “Help yourself to more tea or anything else you’d like in the fridge. If you have any questions, I’ll be upstairs buried in closets.”

The afternoon went by quickly. Since her decision to move, Winnie had collected a supply of large trash bags, plastic storage containers and cardboard boxes, along with bubble wrap and tape. Some were in the garage and many were in the upstairs guestroom, which was command central for the move. It would be the easiest room to tackle first because the items in the closet were extra things they seldom used. Most of them, she knew, would be given to charity.

She worked diligently for a couple of hours filling the various containers. There were a few things she thought her children might like and those she took to their respective bedrooms for them to sort through.

The last items she pulled from the large closet were clothing – old coats, ski outfits, a few costumes they’d worn to parties and two large dress bags of cocktail dresses and evening gowns. She opened one dress bag and pulled out a pale green evening gown that she’d worn to a charity event many years before. She held it up in front of her and checked herself. It would still fit, but she had no idea where she would ever wear it again. Maybe Tiffany would like it, she thought. They were close in size and the dress had been quite expensive and was a classic design so it could be worn again without looked dated. She set it aside and pulled another dress from the bag – a black strapless silk cocktail dress with beading on the bodice. She’d worn this to the one of the dinners held by Edward’s company. Taking it, she went into her bedroom. Standing in front of the full-length mirror in the master bathroom, she held it up to her. She’d always liked the dress and had only worn it once. Still holding the dress up to herself, with one hand she scooped her hair up off her shoulders.

“Beautiful,” said a voice from the doorway.

Winnie jumped, her heart fluttering from the surprise of seeing Ben Church standing in the door. His eyes appraised her from head to toe. She’d almost forgotten he was in the house.

Winnie let go her hair and lowered the dress. “Thank you. I found a stash of eveningwear in the closet. My daughter might want some of them.”