Sweeter Than Wine (4 page)

"I'm a school teacher. Does that tell you
anything?" She began, her eyes straying to his long wayward hair,
as her imagination embarrassed her. She wondered what it might be
like to curl a finger around that hair at his nape. Not a
conventional man, but all man, she deemed him. "A teacher, that's
nice." He smiled magnetically.

"Oh please…it's boring. I teach at a private
all girls school in Houston. And I guess you above all deserve to
know why I'm making such a fool of myself."

"I wouldn't go that far, but go on." He
encouraged.

"I had my eye on this summer trip with the
girls. I thought I was a natural for it, because all the girls
wanted me to go with them. So I applied, blindly to the Dean."

He frowned, "Blindly?"

She frowned and sighed and put her napkin
down a little too heavily, "Yes, well, the Dean of the school let
me know in no uncertain terms that I wasn't qualified to take the
girls on such an adventure."

"Not qualified, for a vacation? Since when do
you need an education to take a vacation?"

"Exactly, not qualified. That's exactly my
thoughts, too. I had all the teaching credentials anyone could ask
for, but I lacked in the department of living according to him at
least, as though he would know."

"I don't follow," he frowned.

She firmed her lips and looked away, "I
haven't done enough living according to the Dean. I've been
nowhere, done nothing, and experienced nothing of life. In other
words I'm about as boring as one gets. Therefore, I am unqualified
to lead the girls into an enjoyable vacation. I don't swim, don't
snorkel, don't surf, and don't do anything that young girls do. I'm
not even a good dancer. How could they possibly have a good time
with me?" she finished with a touch of scorn in her voice. "Those
were his words. The vacation was paid for by the school and I was a
risk factor so, no vacation. "

"I see…" he studied her a moment, "And is
this true?"

She frowned again and firmed her lips, "Yes,
it is. Probably what set me off with him? He was right. But not
without reason."

He nodded for her to continue.

"I really don't want to bore you with my
troubles."

"Indulge is a better word. I find other
people's troubles make mine looks smaller sometimes."

"Stop me when I start boring you, okay?"

He nodded.

"My mother had been ill for some time, and I
was taking care of her. She died this past spring. It took me a
while to get over it and go on. I neglected any vacation plans
until now."

"How long was she ill?"

"Three years."

"That's a long time. And in those three
years, you cooked, cleaned, and took care of your mother." He
furnished the details for her.

"Well, of course, you do what you must do."
She shrugged, and then continued. "Forced to face the fact that I
know very little about living, I decided to find out. To challenge
myself. These days no one has to stay in a rut. So I'm making
myself get out and do things I wouldn't normally do." She bowed her
head for a minute then slowly raised her glance to his. "I'm trying
to live a little. Spice up my life. But I'm afraid I'm a dismal
failure at it."

He was quiet for a long moment, and then he
put his wine down and took her hand from across the table. Lacey
immediately felt herself grow warm, his callused hand, holding
hers. "Lacey, I admire what you are trying to do, and I totally
understand your position. However, you are leaving something out,
aren't you? This Dean as you call him, is he the reason you want to
prove yourself so badly? You're in love with him?"

"Oh—I'm not sure that's the right term. I've
liked him, respected him…"

"Lacey, come clean."

"I wouldn't say in love, we've never gotten
that far, I am infatuated with him, yes, but it's useless, he's
never seen me as a woman. A real woman. I'm not sure he's seen any
woman as a real woman. I want to prove to him and myself that I am.
He hurt my ego more than anything."

"When I look across the table, I see a woman,
a very pretty, sweet woman. You have a natural charm that oozes
from you."

Obviously flustered by his compliment, she
blushed." Perhaps, but you're so preoccupied with your troubles,
I'm not sure you see things clearly..."

"Make no mistake, your state of dress this
morning re-enforced that fact. I see all too well. I see you as a
very vulnerable and sweet young woman."

"And I see you as a troubled man, who refuses
to let the world in." She grabbed her mouth, sure she had insulted
the man and already sorry for it.

"Now how would you know that?" he chuckled
softly.

"You are well traveled, or seem to be. You
are knowledgeable."

"And you are very observant."

"Sorry, it comes with the job. Teaching
fifteen-year-old girls comes with a responsibility. Well, you knew
about deep-sea fishing, you ride a motorcycle. In my book that
makes you well traveled."

"Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?"

"Me? No…"

"Then we'll fix that." He smiled.

The waitress came and he turned lose of her
hand. She felt the warmth leave her. She missed it.

She liked his holding her hand, and that
scared her a little. She didn't know this man. She was on vacation
and she knew how men could be charming one minute and change the
next. She wanted to enjoy her vacation. Why couldn't she simply
relax and enjoy the new sensations swamping her? After all, this
didn't happen everyday, not to her at least.

Ordering steaks the waitress soon
disappeared.

Trying to find even ground she asked, "So—why
were you making that gosh-awful sound on the cliff?"

He leaned back in his chair now, his
shoulders relaxing, his unexpected laughter shocked her. "Gosh
awful sound? Such a beautiful Texas accent."

"I always wanted to talk like one of those
radio announcers, with no accent, but I've been doomed from the
beginning... Well, anyway I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend, I had
no right to just burst out with that, but it was—unusual."

"That gosh-awful sound you heard this morning
was a release of sorts for me. I mean, it was the fist time I've
ever done anything like it and it felt so good. You see, my father
died a couple of years ago, and just before he died, he murmured a
secret that tore me inside out. I'm not his child."

"Oh." Lacey's heart leapt out to him. The man
had suffered a grief too, and obviously was still suffering.
A
lost soul.
She saw that in his eyes. "I'm so sorry. It must be
tragically hard for you to keep going."

"It has been. But it's been two years, and
it's time I snapped out of it and became a human being again."

"I'm so sorry for interrupting you…" she
began.

"Don't be, it made me laugh, it made me see
that despite everything, life goes on." He smiled gently at her.
"And now hearing your story, well, I can relate. And it explains a
lot about you, too."

She shrugged, "I don't know about me. I mean,
I'd been living in this fog for so long, that I never realized that
I'd been missing life all this time. Until now. Not that I regret a
moment of it. I'm at peace about my mother, I know I did everything
I could for her, but I neglected myself during that time, and now I
have to sort of make up for it."

He nodded, "Yeah, me too. We're sort of two
peas in a pod, aren't we?"

She smiled and their eyes connected for a
moment. She saw the raw pain still hiding there, and she saw a kind
and gentle man too.

Woe, slow down Lacey, you're getting yourself
way too involved.

The dinner was perfect and after another
glass of wine, and light conversation they both seemed to wonder
what might come next. Lacey needed to leave now, and not make a
nuisance of herself. He'd been so kind, endured her insignificant
revelation about herself, but she needed to leave so he could
continue enjoying his time here.

"Well, it has been an enjoyable dinner, and I
can't thank you enough. I guess I'll turn in and try to figure out
where I'm going next."

He studied her for a moment without saying
anything, then cleared his throat, "Lacey, don't get the wrong
idea. We barely know each other, but we do have a little in common.
And I've a proposition for you."

She waited with baited breath, "Go on."

"I think you're going at this challenge the
wrong way. You're jumping in with both feet, and trying to do
things you as a person would never do, right?'

She nodded, "I guess so. I don't know any
other way to accomplish what I want."

"I think we can help each other."

"In what way?"

"I haven't thought this through, but I think
I can show you how to let loose and enjoy life a little, and the
distraction might help me too. And, I need to meet my real family;
it would make it easier if there was someone with me."

The man was being very nice, but she didn't
know him, she kept telling herself.

Still there was honesty in his face that
spoke more than his words. Was it wrong to instantly trust
someone?

"What exactly are you suggesting?"

"I'm not sure myself, at this moment.
However, it seems you've going too fast, and in the wrong
directions. A person can live a little and without doing things
that go against their nature. Let me think on it overnight, and see
what I come up with." He glanced up at her and got to his feet. "I
don't want to worry about you now that I've gotten to know a little
about you."

Her face relaxed and she smiled shyly, "I
really don't want to interrupt your vacation any more than I
already have. Are you really a worry-wart?"

His eyes connected with hers now,
"Unfortunately, yes I am. Nevertheless, maybe by helping you, I can
help myself. And believe me, going with me, will help."

She stared for a long time, "All right, then
I'll meet you here in the morning for breakfast and we can talk
about it, okay?"

"Fair enough, let me pay the tab and I'll
walk you to your room," he said and went to pay the tab.

"All right," she said a little too huskily
and walked behind him.

After paying the tab, he walked her to her
room which was on the other side of the hall from his.

She took out her key from her purse and noted
how her fingers shook. She wasn't sure she was doing the right
thing. How could she run around with a man so attractive? She
hadn't had a boy friend in some time and she was sure this man was
way out of her league.

He took the key, unlocked her door, and then
stared down at her.

Afraid her emotions were showing she started
to turn away, but he turned her to face him.

His head bent, and she felt herself tremble
and lifting herself for the kiss.

Tentatively his lips touched hers, as though
there was an unasked question in his kiss. About to back away, she
felt herself pulled into the vortex of his kiss. Her mind blanked,
and his kiss took hold of her. Soft, warm, and inviting, it wasn't
a kiss of a man saying goodnight. It explored the softness of her
bottom lip, nipped until she opened for him like a flower.

His arms went around her ever so gently, as
the kiss deepened. She hadn't meant to respond, but seemed to have
no control over the matter. She'd never been kissed so thoroughly
in her life. She had to breathe, she had to breathe, she kept
reminding herself, but the kiss swallowed that and all other
thoughts. She felt her lips melting into his, becoming one, and
escaping into a paradise she'd never known.

When he turned her lose, she didn't open her
eyes at first. She couldn't, he'd left her there in that strange
and wonderful paradise. However, willing herself to break loose of
his hypnotic trance, she finally opened her eyes to see him staring
into her face with as much shock as she was feeling.

Realizing she must have overstepped herself,
she backed away, "thank you for dinner…" Her voice sounded
breathless.

He nodded.

As she was about to close the door, he slowly
smiled, "See you at breakfast…" he barely uttered and turned to
walk away.

She closed the door and leaned against it.
What had she done?

Granted it was only a kiss, wasn't it?

So why did she feel as though everything in
her life had suddenly changed? She'd changed. Since when did she
let total strangers kiss her? Especially like that. And it wasn't
just any ole kiss either. He'd floored her. She smiled and took off
her shoes. What a pleasant surprise to an otherwise dull
vacation.

Nonsense, she shook herself some time later
and prepared herself for bed.

However, the kiss had stunned her silly and
she wasn't at all sure what to do about it now.

Chapter Four

What in the world was she thinking? Lacey
paced her small room the next morning, hooking up with a stranger
during her vacation. Despite the fact that he'd been a complete
gentleman at the table and not once rude, she didn't know this man.
To contemplate going anywhere with him seemed dangerous, and way
too exciting for her boring life.

It wasn't in her nature to hook up with
strange men. Yet there was nothing strange about the kiss. It
curled her toes. She'd never responded to a kiss like that.

Then it occurred to her that maybe he thought
she was easy or something. Had she given him the wrong impression?
Perhaps she should set him straight from the get go.

Yet she had to admit, they did have something
in common, they had both lost something dear to them in life, and
they were both trying to pick up a new life. Both struggled for
that new life. Perhaps he was right, they might be able to help
each other, at least they understood each other a little better
now.

Nevertheless, there was a problem. She found
Sam McKay very attractive, in a wild sort of way, and nothing like
the men she knew. He made her respond in that same way, wild. Of
course the men she knew were teachers, who dressed and acted
accordingly. But Sam was so different. His hair was wild and longer
than most men his age. His body was solid and well built. It was
his face, so full of expressions that intrigued her, and his
soulful eyes. And the thought of what those eyes did to her,
unnerved her. She might be getting way in over her head.