just sorry that my mother didn’t live to know that he still thought about us. Anyway, I inherited everything. Including Timmy.”
“Including Timmy?”
“He was my father’s bodyguard, and, I gather, he needed one. He was in some pretty ugly businesses with some pretty nasty people. My father won Timmy, who had spent a few years as a professional wrestler, in a poker game almost ten years before he died. His old manager put up his contract in lieu of five thousand dollars. Fortunately for both my father and Timmy, the manager’s full boat, aces over sixes, wasn’t as good as my father’s four deuces.
“Timmy’s a gem and a thoroughly nice man. He was unquestionably loyal and able to take care of himself and my father, particularly in my dad’s final months which, I gather, were lousy. Timmy won’t talk about those years and the things my father was into. He says it’s a closed book now that he’s dead. And I guess it is.”
“How could he leave Timmy to you?” Jessica asked. “It sounds like some kind of indentured servitude.”
“Not at all. My father got to know Timmy very well. Although he left him a generous amount of cash in his will, my father left Timmy something more important. One section of the will guarantees him a job with me for as long as he wants. And that’s all he wants. I guess he’s like my mom. He wants to take care of someone the way he took care of my father, and he stays because he wants to. He keeps the money my dad left him in the bank. ‘For his old age,’ he says.”
“Your dad sound like a very perceptive man.”
“He was.”
“And Timmy’s cooking?”
“That had been a hobby of his for many years. He used to cook for my father, who taught Timmy to enjoy fine food and good wine. After my father’s death, Timmy told me that he had always wanted to study seriously so I encouraged him to take a year to study at the Culinary Institute. Now, as you’ve gathered, it’s more than just a hobby—it’s a passion.”
“That’s quite a story.”
Distant strains of jazz filtered through the evening air. “The music’s starting,” Eric said, stretching out on the blanket. “They discourage listening from here rather than going to the terrace, but I bought six tickets and made a special plea to the staff so they’ll leave us alone.”
Jessica stretched out beside Eric, her head buzzing with the wine and the music and the feel of Eric’s fingers entwined with hers. Together they watched the sky darken and the stars appear while they listened to an erotic baritone saxophone. From time to time, Eric would lift Jessica’s hand to his lips and kiss her knuckles, or nip one fingertip. As the first half of the concert ended, he sucked her index finger into his hot mouth and swirled his tongue around the tip.
To calm her fluttering stomach, she said, “With this inheritance of yours, do you still design buildings?”
He chuckled. “Getting too hot for you?” He sucked her finger again, then answered, “Sure. I like to be productive and I don’t know what else I’d do. I do one or two projects each year, overall design, not the bathroom fixtures or landscaping. I keep my job within strict limits. I never take on a project that will occupy more time than I want to give, leaving the rest of my time for the parts of my life that give me joy.” He bit the tip of Jessica’s finger, then swirled his tongue around the palm. “How about you? What was your family life like as a kid?”
Jessica struggled to concentrate enough to answer his question. “Dull. I was born and brought up in Ottawa, Illinois, a small town near Chicago. Steph and I went to high school together and that’s where she met Brian and I met Rob, my ex-husband.”
Jessica tried to gently withdraw her hand from Eric’s but he held her fast. “Tell me about him. He must be some kind of idiot to let something as gorgeous and sexy as you get away.”
“I don’t mean to make him sound like a total jerk,” Jessica said, finally pulling her hand away from Eric. “We met in high school and he knew precisely what he wanted out of life, so it happened. Dental school and a very busy practice in Ottawa.”
When Eric took her hand again she sighed and didn’t try to pull away. “I gathered from your conversation Tuesday night that you and he weren’t setting the world on fire in the bedroom.”
Jessica laughed softly. “No, we weren’t. Most of our problems in bed were probably due to inexperience. We were both virgins or close enough for government work when we met and there never was anyone else for either of us. Not until bimbo.”
“He found a sweet young thing?”
Jessica told him about finding Rob in his office that afternoon so many months before. When he laughed at her version of the story, he apologized. “Don’t apologize,” she said. “Now, looking back on it, it was pretty funny. At the time, however, it seemed my life had ended.”
Eric propped himself up on one elbow and slid the tip of his tongue across Jessica’s lips. “And how does it seem now?”
Jessica reached up, cupped the back of Eric’s head and smiled as she touched her lips to his. “It seems like it might have been the best thing that ever happened to me.” When she felt his mouth on hers, it was soft and warm and incredibly exciting. They kissed for a long time, savoring the taste and feel of each other’s lips and tongue. Eric stroked Jessica’s side until she longed for the feel of his hands on her breasts.
As the second half of the concert began, Jessica lay on her back on the blanket with Eric, who propped himself on his elbow, gazing down at her, “Even though you can barely see me in the dark, you make me self-conscious when you look at me like that,” she said.
“Uncomfortable?”
“A little.”
“Good. You make me uncomfortable too. All I can think of is how much I want you.”
Jessica closed her eyes as Eric continued, “Do you know how it will be with us? It will begin with a glow, soft and warm and gentle. Slowly it will build until it will blaze with fire too hot to touch but too sweet to resist.” His hand lay on her flat belly, fingers widely spread, “I can feel your muscles tighten when you’re excited. Like now.” He placed his mouth beside her ear, his breath tickling her. “I can tell you some of the things we’re going to do. Would you like that?”
She groaned. “Tell me.”
“First, I’ll unbutton your blouse. Wear a blouse next time so I can open each button and lick your skin as I expose what’s beneath the material.” He ran his finger down her breastbone to the first button of her blouse, then up to the hollow of her neck, feeling her shiver.
“Then I’ll open your bra so I can admire your beautiful breasts. I’ve seen them in my dreams, full and white with hard, dusky brown nipples. They’ll be so hard and hungry that I won’t be able to resist taking one in my mouth. They will taste of your skin, spicy, tight little nubs. I’ll use my teeth and you’ll try to pull away from the slight pain, until it turns to hot pleasure flowing through your body.” He slid his hand lower, until his fingers rested between Jessica’s thighs.
“Then I’ll slide your bra and your slacks off until you’re wearing only your panties. Have you ever been stroked through the silk of your panties? It slightly muffles the sensation, making it softer, and more delicate.” He felt the
