Crown's Law (10 page)

“Here, let me get your plate. I’ll dump these
in the trash can.”

They found two lounges pool-side, and Sue
doffed her hat, coverup, and sunglasses. She dove into the deep end
of the pool before Sam could soak up her curvaceous body. He took
off his shirt and joined her in the pool, dog paddling next to
her.

She giggled, “I so enjoy this, but please
watch the time for me on your watch. Ten minutes max!”

She took off and swam the length of the pool
and back, dodging several people on the way. When she returned, Sam
said, “You should come over here at night sometime. You could swim
as long as you wanted.”

“I don’t know if that would be appropriate,
although the invitation is tempting. I like to limit my social
contacts with my patients. I prefer a completely professional
stance. I’ve found that I’m more successful that way.”

“Maybe sometime when Becky’s away.”

She looked Sam in the eye, her green eyes
playful. “Perhaps.”

Ten minutes later, Sam watched her climb out
of the pool and dry herself with a towel. His loins ached. Then she
disappeared into the wispy cloud, hat, and sunglasses again.

I need to see more of this woman! How do I do
that?

At 5:00 P.M., as the sun dropped toward the
water, Sam went down on the beach and supervised the building of a
fire in the large, concrete fire ring in front of the house. Sue
joined him as the fire caught and began to crackle. She had changed
into a long-sleeved white T-shirt and tight blue jeans. She still
wore the floppy hat and sunglasses. If possible, she was even
sexier than before.

Becky had brought down a batch of long,
two-pronged roasting skewers, bags of marshmallows, and
chocolate-covered graham crackers. The teens had settled around the
fire in beach chairs to make Smores. Sam noticed that Becky had
managed to talk ten of them into staying here. At least for now.
Who knew what they would do later? One of the boys had produced a
guitar and some of the others joined him in singing some songs Sam
didn’t recognize.

I guess I’m getting
old!
he thought.

Not wanting to stifle the kids’ fun, he
motioned for Sue to walk down the beach with him. She obliged.

“Well, your nemesis is calling it a day,” he
laughed, pointing at the orange ball of the sun on the horizon.

“You must think I’m a vampire,” she giggled.
“That I only come to life after dark?”

“At least you weren’t in your coffin all day.
I’m glad of that—I got to spend a little time with you,” he
chuckled.

“I enjoyed the time with you, too.”

They walked in silence for a bit, San
Clemente Pier growing closer. Sam broke the silence.

“Do you date, Sue?”

She looked at him, knowing this was dangerous
ground. She shouldn’t even consider dating this man, though he was
a hunk! But also the equivalent of a patient’s parent.

“Of course,” she said, then bit her
tongue—too late.

“Then maybe we could have dinner sometime.
After dark, of course,” he laughed. “Then maybe you could show some
skin.”

“I have a strict policy against dating
parents of clients,” she forced herself to say. She really had
wanted to say, “That would be nice. When?”

In actuality, she hadn’t dated much lately
and was yearning for some adult male companionship. Talking to
troubled teens day in and day out was not conducive to normal adult
behavior. She was sorely in need of adult male interaction. She had
enjoyed her afternoon with Sam Crown immensely, though they only
had a few moments alone during the day.

Sam didn’t give up on her yet. “Technically,
Becky is an orphan. I’m only her legal guardian, because at times
there are things that need doing that a minor can’t do. Like
authorizing you to see her, for example.”

“I suppose you’re right,” she answered. “But
we wouldn’t be able to discuss anything Becky has confided to
me.”

“I wouldn’t be able to discuss any of my
clients either,” he countered with a chuckle. “How about tomorrow
night? A nice pleasant way to end the weekend.”

“That would be acceptable. I have nothing
planned,” she managed to say, her heart pounding.

“Good. I’ll pick you up at your house at
7?”

“That’s fine. Dress code?”

“Beach casual. We’ll run down to the
harbor to
Wind & Sea
. Get
a nice private booth, get acquainted.”

“Hmm. I’m looking forward to it. Brr! I
should have brought my coat. It’s become quite chilly!” she said,
quite pleased with herself for making the date.

“I’d loan you mine, but I didn’t bring one
either. Let’s turn back. It is January after all. Luckily, we had a
nice day for Becky’s party.”

He put his arm around her shoulders and she
pushed up against him to share his body heat. “That’s better. Thank
you.”

And so began the seduction of Susan
Reinhart.

Saturday, January 29, 2000

San Clemente, CA

Sam’s third dinner date with Sue was on
Saturday, January 29th. Sam drove the Camaro—top up, of course—to
her house in San Clemente to pick her up. He hadn’t tried to get
her in bed yet. He wanted to make sure that she would accept when
he made his move. He also hadn’t told Becky that he was dating her
shrink. He didn’t know how she would react if she found out. He
would deal with that later if this thing with Sue went anywhere.
Besides, Sue was just one of the several women he was seeing off
and on. She was the only one he hadn’t slept with. The anticipation
was killing him! He wanted to see what her body looked like with
all those clothes off.

For this date, she had asked him to wear a
suit and said she would take care of the reservations at a place of
her choice. He was looking forward to the mystery date. He walked
through the gate and into her yard, went to the door and rang the
bell. Thirty seconds later, she opened the door to let him in.

“Come in a minute, Sam. I need to get my
coat,” Sue said, silhouetted by the light behind her.

“Thanks, Sue,” he replied as she stepped back
to let him in. When he saw her in the light, he had to stifle a
gasp.

Sue was dressed in a black, scoop-necked,
sleeveless dress made of a jersey-like material that clung to her
body like a coat of paint. The dress reached only to mid-thigh, and
although she was wearing sheer pantyhose, seeing her white legs,
chest, and arms contrasted against the black dress gave him a sense
of looking at a black-and-white photo. The only flashes of color
were her red hair, a Jade necklace, Jade bracelet on her right
wrist, Jade earrings, and, of course, her green eyes. Her pale
lipstick didn’t detract from the image she projected.

Not many would ever describe Sue as
“beautiful,” but most would call her “cute”—pug nose, thin lips.
Sam had always thought of her as “handsome,” not “cute.” Tonight
she took his breath away. Her face and eyes had been carefully made
up and her red hair was pulled up on top of her head, exposing the
beautiful curve of her white neck.

“My God, Sue! You’re gorgeous! Where have you
been hiding this you?” gasped Sam.

“I’ve been saving this for our third date, in
case we ever got that far. I’m glad you like!” she beamed.

She was wearing black pumps with 4-inch
heels, so it made her a more comfortable height for Sam to lean
over and brush her lips with his, and breathe in her exotic
perfume.

“You’re strikingly handsome tonight yourself,
Sam,” she whispered.

She had chosen an upscale Italian restaurant
in Laguna Beach so they could have candlelight, wine, and strolling
musicians. It was the most romantic tryst that Sam had been
involved in in quite some time. He wasn’t sure whether Sue was
sending a message which read, “I’m ready, ask me,” or whether she
was taking matters into her own hands and was going to take him to
bed. Or neither. Though he was confused about the message, he
relaxed and enjoyed it.

The only thing that irritated Sam about Sue
was her tendency to occasionally go in to “shrink mode” during
conversations. He never knew if he was being analyzed, or if she
was doing it unconsciously. She tended to answer questions with
questions of her own—a shrink technique. He could imagine how the
conversation would go if he got around to asking her to have
sex.

“Do you think we could have sex tonight?”

“What do you think?”

“Would you like your body ravished?”

“Is that what you want to do?”

“Yes! I’d like to screw your brains out!”

“Do you hate your mother?”

Shit!
thought
Sam.
How to proceed?

He finally decided he had nothing to lose by
just asking. “Sue, this has been an extraordinarily romantic and
pleasant evening. There is something I would like to say without
you analyzing it.”

“Of course, Sam. What?” she replied coyly,
her green eyes twinkling in the candlelight, two green spots on a
field of snow.

“The time has come to say that I’d like to
have sex with you tonight.”

“I thought you’d never ask!” she giggled. “As
soon as we finish this exquisite wine, you can take me home and
we’ll do the deed!”

“I can’t wait that long! I’ll buy a bottle to
take with us!”

***

Once they were inside Sue’s house and in the
living room, door locked, Sam helped her out of her coat and laid
it across the back of a jade green couch. Sue turned to face him
and peered at him with her pale green eyes and said, “Now that
we’re here, Sam, I think it may be a mistake to do this. My
training tells me that it’s borderline unethical for me to sleep
with you.”

Sam winced. “Aww, Sue! Jeez! Don’t tell me
that now! I’ve been anticipating it all the way here!”

“Anticipation is often better than the actual
event,” laughed Sue. “You don’t know whether I’m very good at
this!”

“Of course you are! Weren’t you
required to take
Sexual Positions,
Techniques, and
Other Sex Stuff 101
to get your degree?”

“Actually, yes. That’s mental exercises. How
do you know I can put it into practice?” she asked, her head tilted
a bit.

“Let’s find out!”

“Pour us some of that wine you bought. There
are glasses on the shelf in the wet bar—in the den there.” She
turned her back to Sam and continued, “Here, unzip me, please. I’ll
get out of this dress before you start groping me.”

“Groping? I can be subdued and suave!” he
chuckled as he unzipped her dress, saw the strap of her black bra
against the snow of her back.

“Oh, I enjoy groping! Despite my fragile
facade, I don’t break, Sam!” she laughed. “Be right back.”

As she headed to the bedroom, Sam found a
corkscrew in a drawer at the wet bar, popped the cork, and poured
them each a glass of the smooth, red wine and anxiously awaited her
return.

She swished into the den wearing a green
robe. Over what, Sam could only speculate. Sam had removed his suit
jacket and tie, but was otherwise clothed. They sat next to each
other on a small love seat covered in a floral print and pink throw
pillows. They clinked glasses and sipped their wine, Sam continuing
to anticipate. It was painful.

“Have you made a decision yet?” he finally
asked.

“Of course, silly! My female hormones won me
over weeks ago! I’m surprised you waited this long! I’ve heard of
your reputation as the Casanova of the county!” she laughed,
placing her hand on the inside of his thigh.

“My, my! What do I feel?” she giggled,
squeezing him.

“Careful there, lady! I have uses planned for
that!”

She sat up and put her glass on the coffee
table.

“We haven’t even properly kissed yet,” she
whispered, though there was no one there to hear her. “Perhaps we
should start with that.”

She turned and fell back across his body and
into his arms, and they kissed—soft at first, then frantically.
When they came up for air, she murmured, “You may grope me
now.”

He did.

After ten minutes of passionate kissing and
groping, Sue swung her legs to the carpet and sat up. He had
managed to get her robe open and had feasted his eyes on her naked
body. Her breasts were like scoops of vanilla ice cream with
cherries on top, a splash of dark red pubic hair—otherwise, there
wasn’t a blemish on her white body. No freckles, no strap marks
from sunbathing, no moles. Nothing. Her body was like a marble
sculpture that a teenaged graffiti vandal had splashed with three
spots of paint.

“Bedroom!” she panted.

He picked her up and carried her to her
bedroom. The covers on the bed had already been pulled down. He put
her down and she let her robe drop to the carpet, then faced
him.

“The vampire emerges,” she giggled.

“Breathtaking!” was all Sam could say.

“All positions are game except you on top. I
don’t want to be smothered!”

Friday, January 12, 2001

Capistrano Beach, CA

On New Year’s Eve in 1999, the big topic of
conversation was the Y2K bug and whether the world would crash at
midnight. On New Year’s Eve in the year 2000, there were still some
diehards who claimed that the new millennium didn’t start in 2000,
but would start in 2001. At the Crown’s house, the most talked
about event was the approach of Becky’s 16th birthday on January
12th.

Educationally, Becky had completed her
BA in physics, her MAs in both mathematics and physics, and was
diligently working on her doctorates in both disciplines. Her new
theory on how matter behaved at speeds faster than the established
speed of light—called
Rebecca’s
Folly
by many of her detractors—was
gaining support in many academic circles. She had demonstrated many
of her theories in the lab. It was the main theme of her two
doctoral theses. She had made several presentations at UCI to
groups of distinguished mathematicians and physicists from all over
the world. Sam would not let her travel to other halls of academia
yet, so they had to come to her. That they came proved
something.