Текст книги "Lunch at the Club"

Автор книги: Kate Kane

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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 11 страниц)

Chapter 22

Another dinner guest

Ben had brought Mick for dinner.  It was just left overs, but Ben had assured her it would be all right.  After all, it wasn’t like she was entertaining royalty or anything.  Last month, during the Gardner investigation, she’d had several lunches with Mick.  He was a few years older than she was.  He was a widower whose wife had died a few years ago from brain cancer.  When they met, she herself was experiencing some hellacious headaches and Mick had told her about Gloria.

~~~~~

Mick had grown up with his wife.  Gloria was two years younger than Mick and she’d been his kid sister’s best friend.  But, the summer he finished his freshman year at college, he answered the door and there she stood, with a knock out figure stuffed into a red bikini top and daisy duke shorts, wearing contacts behind her Foster Grants, her blond hair hanging loosely just below her shoulders, dangling a set of car keys and asking if his sister was home.  Luckily for him, his sister breezed by him and went out the door.  Gloria turned around, pulled her sunglasses down her nose and winked at him.  “Welcome home, Mickey.” she’d said as she turned and walked toward her car.  They’d gotten married just two weeks after she graduated from high school.  They’d been married for over 20 years.

Then Gloria had started having severe headaches and according to Mick, she’d ignored them for too long and by the time he convinced her to go to the doctor, the cancer was inoperable.  She’d been dead for four years and Lane could tell by the way Mick talked about her that he still missed her.

~~~~~

Lane imagined that in 20 years of marriage Mick had eaten more than one dinner of left overs.

Jamie was sitting at the breakfast bar and she handed him plates and silverware for four.

“Who’s coming?”  He hadn’t gotten much from Lane’s side of the phone call.

“Ben’s bringing Detective McGuire.  I think you met him at my birthday party.  He’s the one I called yesterday to help Ben.”

Jamie took the plates and the silverware and was setting the table as Ben came through the garage.  He had an older guy with him, and while his Mom thought they may have met at her birthday party last month, he didn’t look at all familiar to Jamie.

“Mick, it’s good to see you under ordinary circumstances.  Did Ben tell you I was cleaning out the refrigerator?”  She laughed. “I’m afraid we’re just having left overs.”

God she was beautiful.  And her laugh was like angels singing. He shook his head.  “He didn’t say a word, but I’d have come anyway.”  Hell yes, he’d have come.  He’d have come to eat sand, just to be able to look at her.

“You two may have met last month, but to be sure.  Mick, this is my son Jamie.  Jamie this is Detective Mick McGuire.”

Jamie reached out to shake Mick’s hand.  He didn’t like the way the guy looked at his mom.

“It’s nice to meet you, Detective.”

“Nice meeting you.  And please call me Mick.”

“All right, Mick.  What can I get you to drink?  We have Coke, Diet Coke, Diet Dr. Pepper, with caffeine and without, iced tea, coffee, water, wine, and beer.”

“That’s quite a list.  What would you recommend?”

“Mom makes a pretty good un-sweet iced tea.”

“So,” Mick looked at Lane.  “Where do you want me?”

“You can sit in Jess’s place.  Ben, will you show him?”

Jamie got glasses and began filling them with ice. If Ben wasn’t going to put this guy in his place, he’d have to.  “Dad, the usual for you?”

“Yeah, Bambino.”

“Mom, caffeine free DDP for you?”

“Yes, thanks.  Here, use this glass,” she said, handing Jamie the glass she’d been drinking from.  She handed the platters and bowls to Ben to set on the table.

There was meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, steamed asparagus, corn, pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, and fried chicken.  It looked to Mick like there was enough food to feed a small army.

Lane sat down and reached to take Ben’s and Jamie’s hands.  Ben and Jamie reached to take Mick’s hands.  And Jamie began saying grace.  “Lord, we thank you for this food and ask you to bless it and all of the hands who brought it to our table.  We ask you to bless our family and our guest.  We pray that Jess does well on her audition tomorrow so that she can get back soon and we can have the wedding.  In Jesus’ name we pray.”

Jamie hoped his prayer wasn’t rude, but he really, really didn’t like the way this Mick guy was looking at his mother.

Jamie’s prayer made Ben remember his conversation with Jess.  He had until Saturday to figure out something.

Lane began passing food around the table in a clockwise pattern.  “Help yourself, Mick.”

Mick had thought it looked like a lot of food until Jamie started piling things on his plate.

“Hey, Bambino.  Are you ready for the game tomorrow?”  Ben looked at Mick.  “Jamie plays football for Rockhurst.”

Football. That explained it.  His son Shane had played football and during the season, he remembered Gloria saying she couldn’t keep enough food in the house.

Mick listened as Bellini and the Parkers talked about their day.  He had forgotten how much he enjoyed the family dinners with Gloria and the kids.  Like Lane, Mick had three children and like Lane he had two boys and a girl.  His oldest, Michael, was expecting his first child.  By Christmas, Mick would be a grandfather.  He didn’t have much to add to the conversation.  It didn’t seem like either Lane or Ben wanted to discuss the events from yesterday in front of the kid.

After dinner, Ben and Jamie got up and began clearing the table.  Lane smiled and looked across the table at Mick.  “Neither guests nor she who cooked has to do clean up.  Shall we go into the family room?”

Mick had been in her house three times last month.  Once to question her, once he took her home because of a debilitating headache.  That time he’d sat on her bed and read while she slept, losing his sunglasses in the process so that he had to come back the next day and look for them.  Of course, then he’d found the murder weapon under her bed and he’d had to take her to the station to answer questions.  She’d called Ben to meet them at the station.  That was the first time he’d seen the way her face lit up when she looked at Bellini.  The day he came into the interview room to save her from the big bad detective.

He’d never been invited to sit in the family room and chat.  She sat in a chair and motioned for him to have a seat on the adjacent sofa.

“During grace, your son said something about the wedding.  When’s the big day?”

“We really aren’t sure.  We had planned to have an intimate ceremony tomorrow, but then my daughter got a call from her agent.  She has an audition tomorrow and it’s a pretty big opportunity. So she had to go back to L.A. early.  After her audition, we’ll figure out when we can get her back here.”

Ben had joined them and sat in the chair next to Lane.  “The marriage license is good for six months, so we have some time to figure it out.”

“We could always go back to the original plan and get married over her Christmas break.”  Lane said.

A look passed between Ben and Lane.  Mick wasn’t sure whose idea the accelerated timeline had been, but he wondered if it was Lane who was trying to get Ben to the altar before he changed his mind.  Mick believed that time was definitely on his side.  He’d been playing basketball in the same league with Ben for five years and he couldn’t remember Ben being serious with anyone, but he knew Ben had never lacked for female companionship either.

Jamie came into the family room.  “I’m going to my room to study.  Good night, Detective.  Mom, Dad, good night.  See you tomorrow.”

Lane smiled at her son.  She thought he was going to wait until after the wedding to start calling Ben dad, but he’d done it twice tonight.

“Good night, Jamie.  Love you.”

“Good night, Bambino, we’ll see you after the game if not before.”

Mick looked at his watch and said he really should be going.  Both Lane and Ben walked him to the front door. “Thanks for dinner.  It was kind of you, considering you had no notice.”

“Mick, it was my pleasure.  And you were a real sport about the left overs.  We’ll have to do it again when the menu is better.”

“I’d like that.”  And he would.  Maybe next time they could leave Bellini and the kid out of the picture.

Lane had barely closed the door after saying good-bye to Mick, when Ben had swept her in his arms and kissed her.  “I’ve been waiting for hours to do that.”

“Me too, I love you,” she said running her hands through his hair.

“And I love you,” he said before kissing her again.  He refused to think about the phone conversation he’d had with Jess.  All he wanted to do was hold Lane in his arms and make love to her, but he knew it wasn’t going to happen tonight.  Jamie was in his room and even if he hadn’t already put Ben on notice, it still wasn’t going to happen.  Phillip Parker had made love to her and then he came out of the closet and walked out through front the door.  No matter what happened in the next two days he wasn’t going to do what Phillip Parker had done to her.

It was crazy.  Of course he could protect her.  He would protect her even if he had to call in all of his family to form a 24/7 watch.  He’d talk to Jess and make her see that everything was going to be all right.

They walked back to the family room and sat together on the sofa.  Ben ran his fingers through her long strawberry blonde hair.  “Has your fiancé told you today how beautiful you are?”

“I don’t believe he has,” she said as she leaned in to kiss him.

“He’s a fool.” He brushed her hair away from her face as she put her head on his shoulder.

“You know, it wouldn’t be so bad to wait until New Year’s Day.”

“If that’s what we have to do, then we’ll make it work.  But if I have to wait that long, I really will have to have a talk with the Bambino.  He’s calling me Dad.  Where does he think dads sleep?  They sleep with moms.”

And then he thought about the changes that would have to happen in their love making.  Lane was a screamer and Jamie’s room was just across and down the hall.  The kid would get an ear full.  The thought of Lane screaming his name where Jamie could hear made him blush a little.  But she was going to be his wife.  He sure as hell wasn’t going to wait nine months until Jamie went off to college to make love to her again.

Until their engagement, they’d tried not to kiss in front of the kids.  Apparently they weren’t really hiding anything.  Apparently both of the boys suspected that he and Lane had already been having sex.  Last month each of them wanted to be sure Ben was going to be spending the night on the sofa instead of in their mother’s bed when he’d stayed over.

He moved so they were laying on the sofa together.  He loved holding her.  Maybe they could just stay this way for a while.

Chapter 23

Game night

Ben was awakened by his buzzing cell phone.  He was a little disoriented.  He smiled realizing that he and Lane had fallen asleep on the sofa in her family room.  He still held her in his arms and apparently Jamie had come in at some point and pulled a throw over them.  Apparently he could spend the night and even sleep with his fiancée as long as he did it on the sofa.  But he knew it wasn’t sleeping that Jamie was concerned with.

It was 5:30 a.m. and time for his run. He kissed her gently before disentangling himself.  He stood and stretched.  The sofa wasn’t the most comfortable place he’d ever slept, but he’d still prefer it to the most comfortable bed in the world as long as he could share it with Lane.  She murmured as he picked up both her and the throw and carried them to her bedroom. He laid her on her bed and straightened the throw over her.  He stood next to the bed, just looking down at her angelic face.

She had been born Angelique Lane Valle.  He knew she had been raised by an aunt, after both of her parents died when she was four.  He didn’t know why her aunt had started calling her Lane instead of Angelique.  His uncles had met her when she was four years old and was still called Angelique.  They still called her their little angel of the valley.  He had to agree, watching her sleep, that she certainly had the face of an angel.  She seemed at peace as she lay there.  She stirred as he leaned down and kissed her again.  “Shhh.  Go back to sleep.  I’m going home to change for my run.  I’ll call you later.”  He smoothed her hair away from her face.  “I love you.”

It didn’t matter how much he wished he could lay next to her holding her in his arms for the rest of the day.  He had jury selection starting this morning and arguments could start as early as this afternoon for his current trial.

Lane’s alarm went off at 7:30.  She lay in bed and stretched.  She was still wearing the clothes she’d changed into after work yesterday.  The last thing she remembered was being on the sofa in the family room with Ben.  She must have fallen asleep and Ben had carried her to bed.

She had a full day.  The normal number of meetings dotted both her morning and her afternoon, but she was taking off over lunch to pick up her marriage license.  Telco had instituted casual Fridays, but she wasn’t much of a khakis kind of person.  It was so hard to find women’s slacks that were long enough, so she usually wore a suit just like the other four days of the week.  Today though, she pulled out a black and cream sleeveless shift.  She knew the calendar didn’t agree, but she always thought of Labor Day as being the end of summer, so she grabbed a black cardigan sweater and laid the dress and sweater on her bed as she walked toward the bathroom.  She showered, dressed, and drove to the office.

The morning went quickly and at eleven o’clock, Lane got her purse and told Meg she was going out.  She drove to the Johnson County Clerk’s office and picked up the marriage license. When they’d applied, she couldn’t believe how much it cost to get married.  The license alone was nearly $90.00. Things had changed since her last walk down the aisle.

When she’d married Gus, they had gone to a justice of the peace.  She’d had a big church wedding when she married Phillip.  She knew the wedding ceremony itself had nothing to do with how the marriage turned out. She remembered how stressful planning the wedding had been.  She smiled.  Maybe it was one of the reasons she’d agreed so quickly to Ben’s suggestion of having a quick small wedding.

Her cell phone rang.  It was Ben.  It was uncanny how he seemed to call almost every time she was thinking about him.  She answered using the blue tooth connection in her Escalade.  “How do you do that?”

He laughed as he replied, “What did I do now, and did you like it?”

“I like almost everything you do.  How is it you always call just when I’m thinking about you?”

“I’ve told you before, I have ESP where you’re concerned.  And what do you mean almost?”  His voice was deep and sexy.  “No, don’t tell me.  It might damage my fragile ego.”

“You’re so funny.  Fragile ego my aunt fanny.  Okay, I don’t think you’ve done anything so far I don’t like.  But I’d like another opportunity to examine the facts, counselor.”

Jamie had a home football game tonight.  And even though Friday was date night, which generally meant they spent the night without the kids, she and Ben would spend the first part of their date tonight watching Jamie play football.  Jamie would go hang out with his friends afterward, and they’d go have dinner.  She felt a blush creeping up as she thought about how the evening would end.  Maybe they’d skip dinner and just go to Ben’s.  They hadn’t made love since Tuesday night and she had to admit that she was feeling a bit neglected.  All of this innuendo over the phone was only intensifying the need she felt.

“We might be able to work something out after the Bambino’s game tonight. I need to run.  I had a break and I just wanted to call and tell you how much I love you.  But now you’ve got me so worked up that I may not be able to concentrate during jury selection.”

“You’ll do fine, counselor, I have confidence in you.  I love you and I can’t wait for tonight.”

She went back to the office and finished out the afternoon with her meetings.  As she was packing up her laptop, Meg came into her office.

“I imagine Jake and I will see you at the game.  My parents are going to watch Abbey for me.  Jake likes Ben’s date night so much that we’re trying it.  Fridays without the baby, I mean.”

Lane smiled.  She liked Meg, and if Jake was happy, she was happy.  “Well, we’ll be there.  Sometimes it’s crowded, so there’s no guarantee that we’ll see you.  It’s your first game, isn’t it?  Are you a football fan?”

Meg laughed.  “I really don’t know much about the game.  I’m a Jake fan, Jake’s a Jamie fan, and Jamie plays football.   So you know it’s like the transitive property of equality: if A=B and B=C then A=C.  So, I’m a football fan.”

Lane laughed. She had an infectious, full-bodied laugh.  “Better bring a jacket, it could be chilly after the sun goes down.”  Lane said as she and Meg walked toward the elevators.

Lane went home to change.  The game was at 7:30.  She liked to arrive at the field a little before 7:00 to get both a good parking spot and a good seat.  This would be only the second time Ben had gone with her since Jamie got on the varsity squad.  In prior seasons, Ben had been out on his date night with someone else.  He had attended several Junior Varsity games with her and she knew he’d seen most of the varsity home games, just with someone else.

Jamie had already left by the time Lane got home.  She put her briefcase in the den and went to change her clothes.

She’d put on her Levi’s and was buttoning up a sleeveless blouse when the doorbell rang.  She went to the door in her bare feet and found Lila Crane. She held an evidence bag.

“I just wanted to return the receipt for your golf clubs.  Where are those golf clubs, by the way?”

Lane just looked at her wondering what this visit meant.  Was the return of the receipt an indication that she wasn’t a suspect anymore?  Did it mean that Rochelle Jones had confessed? Or was Lila just here to jerk her chain?

“I really don’t know where the golf clubs are right now.”  She still stared at Lila, and she neither invited her in nor did she move to take the evidence bag.

Lila’s eyes were emerald slits as she leaned close to Lane.  “You know, we fucked like rabid dogs.  Ben and I.  All fast, furious, hot and wet.”

Lane closed her eyes and could see them. She told herself that it didn’t matter. It was before she and Ben were a couple.  But the image was burned in her brain.

Ben pulled into the driveway and quickly got out of his SUV.  “Detective what are you doing here?”

Lila held up the evidence bag.  I was returning her receipt.”  She pushed it toward Ben.  “Congratulations on your engagement, Counselor,” she said as she turned and left.

Ben wrapped his arms around Lane.  She was visibly shaken.  “Are you all right?  What did she say to you?”

She buried her head in his shoulder and breathed in the scent of him.  She shook her head hoping the image would go away like an etch-a-sketch drawing.  She was crying and Ben had no idea why. He backed her into the house and closed the door.

“Oh, Lane, sweetheart, don’t cry.  Tell me what she said.”

Lane sniffed and looked up at him.  He gently wiped her tears away with his fingertips.

“Please just tell me what she said to make you cry.”

“She told me the two of you fucked like rabid dogs,” Lane said in halting breaths, as she took his hand and began walking toward her bed room.  “I tried to tell myself it doesn’t matter.  That it was before we were a couple, but there’s a picture in my head and I think there’s only one way I’m going to erase the image from my brain.”  She pulled his polo shirt out of his pants and began working the buckle of his belt.

He began kissing her, gently at first, then deeper.  As always, she moaned as their tongues danced together.  He moved from her lips to her eyes and her neck and throat.  Her return kisses were intense and she was struggling to get his clothes off.  He picked her up and carried her to the bed, kissing her as he unbuttoned her blouse bending to kiss the swells of her breasts above the lace bra.

“Lane, I love you.  Dear God, I love you.  You are my heart.” He unbuttoned the fly of her jeans and pulled them from her hips exposing her black lace panties. He groaned. “God, I am so sorry.”

She sat up and took off her clothes.  “No more talking.  Just take off your clothes and come here.  I need a new picture in my head. And I need it now.”

He was willing to comply.  He stripped out of his khakis and boxers, and climbed into bed next to her.  He showered kisses on her, literally from head to toe.  He took a nipple in his mouth and suckled as she moaned.  She had her hands in his hair and was moving his head to her other breast.  He knew that she’d be wet and ready for him, but he continued to kiss her breasts, licking and suckling, first one then the other and back again.  She was screaming his name.  Dear Lord, had he brought her to an orgasm by just suckling her?  She pushed at his shoulders and he moved lower pausing only briefly at her navel before moving on.  She was so wet.

“No, I need you inside me.  I need you now.”

He moved back up and kissed her as he slid inside her.  She was hot, and wet and tighter than any woman her age who was the mother of three had a right to be, but he wasn’t complaining and neither was she.

Her orgasm was fast and intense and like the last time they’d made love, her orgasms came in waves one wave after another.  Ben was concentrating on anything he could to prevent himself from going over.  She needed this and he was going to give her whatever she needed for as long as he could.  Was that four or five?  She screamed and suddenly he felt her grab his ass with both hands, nails dug in as she moved her hands and nails up his back still screaming.

She caught her breath.  “Top, I need on top.”

He put his arm around her and rolled them over.  God, he was glad no one was home.  As it was the neighbors might be calling the police anyway.

She sat astride him and arched her back, hands in her hair.  “Your turn now.  You know what I want.”  She leaned down and kissed him “Come with me, now, Ben.”

He groaned loudly and went over with her.

“I love you, Ben.  I love you.”

He rolled back on top of her still holding their connection.  “You are the only woman I have ever loved.  I want to love you and make love to you and only you for the rest of my life.”  He kissed her.  “Do you believe me?”  He was moving slowly again, she was so wet, and while he was only half hard, he thought they could go again.  With each stroke he made, his erection grew firmer.  “Tell me you believe me,” he whispered near her ear.

“I believe you,” she said.

“Tell me again,” he coaxed.

“I believe you.”

“Do you love me,” he whispered as he rained kisses near her ear.

“You know I do.”

“Tell me,” he whispered against her breast as he took her nipple in his mouth.

“I love you.  I love you,” and she came again.  He rolled over so she was on top of him.  He liked the view from this position, and she liked how deep he was inside her in this position.  They went over together again.

They’d made love on three occasions now, and it got better every time.  He held her in his arms.

“We have to go. We’re going to be cutting it close for the game,” he said as he stood and pulled her up to stand with him.  “I love you.  He ran his finger down her neck and to the necklace he’d given her Monday.  “You hold the key to my heart, you know.  You always will.”

It should have been their wedding day and instead Lane was subjected to Lila’s taunts.  Damn Lila Crane.  If she ever came near Lane again, he might not be responsible for what happened.  He wasn’t going to warn her, the bitch deserved whatever happened.  Rabid dogs indeed.  As he recalled it was much more like wham, bam, see you next time, ma’am.  Maybe Tony could date her, he mused.  After all, the Bellini brothers seemed to be interchangeable.