Dream Man (20 page)
Authors: Judy Griffith Gill
“You,” he said, “should not be running around without underwear in the middle of December, Ms. Leslie. You might catch cold.”
“I didn't bother with underwear because I thought it would slow things down,” she told him. “And you might catch more than cold if you don't hurry up.”
“What might I catch?”
“A bust in the mouth, mister.”
“I can live with that.”
It was still night when they awoke. “Your head's on my pillow,” Max said, rolling over to look at her in the glow of an oil lamp.
“I noticed. Want me to move it?”
“Never.” They shared a smile of joy.
“Max? You know what Jason found out about that cave at school?”
“Hmm? What?” He didn't much care. He was busy sliding the thick duvet back very, very slowly, making discoveries as he went.
“A kid in seventh grade set it up. He was going to invite his girlfriend there. He wrote her a note, but someone else got hold of it, and it was all over the school in no time at all. He was too embarrassed to go back and get his stuff.”
“Hmm! I see. Sort of like wanting to take her out behind the fire hall or down to the marina to his dad's boat?”
“Guess so. Naughty, huh?”
“Only if she agreed to do it.”
“Double standards already, McKenzie?”
“Double standards aren't for grown-ups.”
“Oh? And what is for grown-ups?” She reached beneath the down quilt. “This?”
“That,” he said, “is for one grown-up lady alone, but I'm afraid the fire's going out.”
She squeezed hard flesh. “Doesn't feel like that to me.”
“I meant the stove needs more wood in it, so I have to leave you temporarily.”
“I'll come with you,” she said, scrambling after him, wrapping the comforter around her.
“Ah-ha! I've got your measure, lady. You just wanna go down to my couch and do it.”
She fluttered her lashes at him innocently. “What does âdo it' mean?”
With a lascivious grin he picked her up and carried her down to the couch. “Just you lie back right there,” he said, “while I stoke up the wood-stove, and then I'll show you.”
She opened her arms to him when he returned brushing wood dust off his hands, and murmured, “My hero ⦔ Within the sounds of their mingled laughter, Jeanie distinctly heard the tinkling music of golden bangles. Looking over Max's shoulder, she saw six whirling, gleaming circlets hovering over the arm of the sofa, dancing in the firelight.
She smiled at them and said silently,
Thank you, Grandma Margaret. Thanks for everything
.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1990 by Judy Gill
cover design by Connie Gabbert
978-1-4532-8074-4
This edition published in 2012 by Open Road Integrated Media
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New York, NY 10014
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