Hampton Manor (9 page)

During the meal, Marcia brought Adam up-to-date on her time with Kane Masterson. Adam was pleased to hear that that Kane was a bit miffed with the treatment Marcia was meting out.

“Well don’t let up. I promised him ‘hell on earth’ for the next six months and I expect you to stoke the coals.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already made that clear to him. He got a little sarcastic at one point, but I ignored him. If he gets out of line again, I’ll rap his knuckles with a ruler.”

Adam burst out laughing, picturing the image.

Henri appeared with their dessert, a dried cherry compote with shortbread and mascarpone cheese. Another waiter served their
café au lait
.

Marcia tasted the dessert. “This is really good.”

Adam took a bite. “You’re right. Have you ever noticed that the tastier foreign food dishes are, the fancier their names get. Why not just call this what it is; stewed cherries in a light sauce over cheese and lady fingers?”

“That wouldn’t justify the fifteen dollar price?”

“No, of course it wouldn’t and could you imagine calling Henri, Henry or maybe Hank. I guess I better not fill out this suggestion card,” he said, pointing to the small card nestled between the salt and pepper shakers. “I would never be allowed in here again if they knew how I felt. I really did enjoy the food.”

“You‘re probably right,” she replied, with a smile.

They left the restaurant and returned to Marcia’s town house. The air became charged the minute the front door closed behind them. All that each remembered was that they came away from their previous get together with a desire for more; sex, that is.

“Would you like to have a drink first, or do we go right to the bedroom?”

Adam was struck with her directness. He was unaccustomed to forthright sexual conversation with women and unfamiliar with what response was expected

“I think I’ve had enough alcohol for one day. I want to be able to remember every moment that I spend with you. I certainly don’t want a repeat of last time, except, of course, the intimacy we had together.”

“You’re sweet. Well, then, let’s get to it,” she said, taking his hand and leading him to the bedroom. “I’m a bit fuzzy about last time, too. I think I had too much wine.”

“Then I’ll go slowly so you don’t miss anything,” he said with a smile.

“We’ll see how slow you can go after you get a look at the Martin’s of Beverly Hills lingerie I picked up yesterday. They call it ‘Strappy Cord Teddy’.”

“I can hardly wait.”

When they got to the bedroom, she excused herself and went into the bathroom to change.

Adam recalled the round bed, but he was hazy about everything else. He looked around the room for something that would trigger a memory, but was unable to recognize a single piece of furniture, picture or decoration. This was another red flag for him. If he wanted to have a lasting relationship with Marcia he would have to greatly curtail his alcohol consumption. He was willing to pay that price.

He removed his clothing down to his shorts, piling everything on an armchair in the corner of the room. He rolled up the comforter and placed it on another chair along with the sham pillows and the half-dozen multi-shaped pillows that were laying on top of the bed as decorations. He turned down the three lamps in the room, creating a soft romantic glow.

The sheets weren’t silk, but they had a sheen to them. He slid under the covers and waited for her return. He didn’t have to wait long. Within minutes, Marcia entered the room wearing her Strappy Cord Teddy. Adams eyes opened wide. His memory suddenly flashed back to their first encounter, when she dropped her robe to show him what he would be getting. For some reason, he was more excited by seeing her in the teddy.

She stood before him, her ample breasts and crotch barely covered. She turned to reveal the “strappy cord” part, which consisted of a thin lace strap across her back directly under her shoulder blades, a second strap at the waist and a third filling the space between her taut buttocks.

She crawled under the sheets with him. Since her memory of their first time was clouded except for the multiple lovemaking, she only a vague clue as to what to expect from him in the way of lovemaking. She was totally unprepared for what was to follow.

True to form, Adam passed on the opportunity for fore-play. He kissed her several times on the mouth and neck while he removed the teddy and without a single passionate word or gesture he entered her and commenced with his mechanical lovemaking. Once sated, he rolled over onto his back.

Marcia was stunned. While she managed to enjoy a brief orgasm before he stopped, she couldn’t believe that it was over so quickly. She had a vague memory of having multiples last time. They had spent hours together.
What the hell was going on?
She knew he was rough, the bruises from last time attested to that, but she didn’t expect to be on the receiving end of a mechanical banging. That wasn’t the kind of “love machine” she had in mind.
What’s with the “Wham, bam, thank you ma’am” business? That’s not lovemaking, that’s just screwing. I wish I could remember what happened
last time. I can’t believe that it was like this. I don’t want a one-trick pony. I can do better than that. Is it me? Could I be doing something wrong?

The night was slowly turning into a disaster for Marcia. Dreams of a long-term romance were quickly fading.

Adam spoke first, “That was great.” He stopped as suddenly, out of the blue, he took notice of her nipples as if he was seeing them for the first time. They were only dime-size, but they were now erect and a bright rosy color. He leaned over and took one of them into his mouth. He pursed his lips and sucked on it as he flicked his tongue over the tip. He fondled her other breast at the same time.

Marcia shuddered.
What now, some sort of after play? What a jerk.
She rolled over, to discourage him, wondering how the dreams of a wonderful evening turned out so bad.
I was so looking forward to tonight. What the hell went wrong? This can’t be what we did last time. What’s different?
Then a thought flashed into her mind,
Could it be that alcohol is an aphrodisiac of some sort for him? Does he have to be blotto to be passionate? I can’t deal with that. I don’t have to.
Finally,
When is this going to end? I can have a better time with my vibrator.

Her last question was answered immediately. “Well, we both have busy schedules tomorrow. I’d better be going,” Adam said as he rose from the bed and walked to the chair where he had piled up his clothes. He dressed hastily.

Marcia drew her knees and the sheet up to cover herself. She had no intention of sharing any more of herself with this “bozo”. She said nothing.

When he was dressed he came over and sat on the edge of the mattress. “It’s been a perfect evening. We’ll have to do this again.

Marcia didn’t reply right away. She needed a moment to construct an appropriate response. She was thinking,
Not anytime soon, buster. Not if I have my way,
but she said, “It was nice for me too, Adam. I’m so glad that we could squeeze it in now, because I know that I’ll be spending long days and even longer nights working on this merger.”

“Well, let’s not make it too long and good luck with Masterson. Look, I’ll let myself out.” He leaned over and gave her a peck on the lips, rose and left the room.

Moments later, when Marcia heard the front door close, a feeling of relief came over her. She leaned back against the pillows, thoughts flooding into her head,
I have to end this. If I slept with him again, the way I feel now, I’d be no better than a whore.
All feeling she had had for Adam was gone. She didn’t blame him. He was what he was. She was glad that she found out before things went too far. She took a long, hot shower and went to bed. She would need all her strength for Kane Masterson.

Chapter 14

Lauren and Daniel decided to allow their attraction for each other to be more open. They began appearing at social events as a hand holding, gushing over each other, “couple”, although Daniel had not yet popped the question. He was waiting for just the right occasion. His plan was to propose at her birthday celebration scheduled for the end of the month.

They were in Daniel’s office at the Wildcat’s stadium when the receptionist told him that he had a phone call from Luke Martin a stable hand at the Old Brooking Country Club.

Lauren looked surprised when she heard the name of the caller. “I wonder what he could want?”

“I don’t know, but there is only one way to find out.” He picked up the phone. “Daniel McKnight, here.”

The voice at the other end was hesitant. “Er, my name is Luke Martin. I don’t think you know me, but up until yesterday I worked with the horses at the country club.”

The silence at the other end prompted Daniel to interrupt, “I believe I do remember you. You help every year with the Club’s horse show. You do a grand job.”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

Daniel glanced at Lauren and shrugged. He noticed that she seemed uncomfortable with the call.

“What can I do for you Luke?”

“Well, like I said, Mister McKnight, I don’t work at the club anymore. I got laid off yesterday. I’ve worked there since I was in my teens. They didn’t care about that.”

“Well, how can I help you? Are you looking for a job with one of my teams?”

Luke hesitated for a few seconds. “No, it’s nothing like that. You see, they have an unwritten rule at the club that ‘what goes on there, stays there’. You know, like in Vegas. I’ve respected that up ‘til now, but since I don’t work there anymore, I don’t feel like I’m bound by that rule anymore.”

Daniel was getting impatient. “Can you get to the point, Luke? What’s this secret of yours and what does it have to do with me?”

On the mention of the word “secret” Lauren’s face drained. She reached out for a chair and fell into the cushions. Daniel had his back to her at the time and her distress went unnoticed.

“I’m gettin’ to that. You’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Spit it out.”

“Okay! Well a few years back Lauren Hampton and I got it on. That child she miscarried was mine. I didn’t even know that she was pregnant until the accident. When she found out, she told me it had to be mine ‘cause she wasn’t doing it with her old man at the time. She had planned to let him think it was his. That didn’t work out of course.”

Daniel turned to Lauren and he could tell by the look on her face that Luke was telling him the truth. He shot her an assuring smile.

Lauren simply lowered her eyes to her clasped hands.

“That’s quite a story Mister Martin. What evidence do you have to support your allegations?”

“I’ve got it all on tape. She came to me several months after the accident and spelled it all out. She told me she couldn’t ever see me again. At the time I understood.”

“So, why are you calling me? If it’s about work, the job I was talking about before, might be possible, if you’re interested?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. You see, I’m tired of working and I need a change of scenery. I’d like to go someplace where it’s warm all year, but that costs lots of money. The problem is that I’ve never been able to save very much. I thought you might want to help me out there. I could live pretty nice with a nest egg of, let’s say, a hundred grand. I’ll give you the tape and you have my word that there are no copies. You can trust me, after all, I already proved that I’m trustworthy by keeping quiet for all these years.”

“Even if I had that kind of money readily available, which I don’t, I would never pay anything to you. How can you threaten to ruin the reputation of an upstanding woman who just made a mistake. A woman who you obviously have a lot of respect for. She’s had enough heartbreak in her life. You shouldn’t be trying to profit from it?”

“I haven’t threatened anyone and don’t act so high and mighty with me, Mister. I’m willing to bet that she wouldn’t have gotten that cushy divorce settlement from her husband if he had known about her affair with me. She’s profited plenty. I just want some of that money to keep my mouth shut. I think that’s very fair,”

“Perhaps you haven’t given it much thought, Luke, but blackmail will get you a change of scenery that you won’t enjoy too much.”

“Do you think I’m stupid? Do you think I haven’t thought this thing through? Well, I’m betting that you and your lady won’t want the kind of publicity you would get if that ever happens. Look, I’m not in the mood to play games with you. If you aren’t interested, maybe Adam Hampton will be, or as a last resort, I can get a few bucks selling my story. Dirt on the Hamptons will sell. After all it’s my story too so I can tell it to anyone I want to. There’s no crime in that is there? You’ve got ‘till noon tomorrow.”

Daniel looked at Lauren. Through the tears that were flowing down her cheeks she made it clear that she didn’t want him to make any deal with Luke.

With that assurance, Daniel concluded the call, “There won’t be any money coming from me, Luke. I hope that you have a change of heart and do the decent thing. You’ll never find any peace in your life by coercing people into giving you money like this. I wish you the best.” Daniel didn’t wait for a response. He hung up the phone and went immediately to Lauren’s side.