Twenty-Five
T he shrill tones of Scott’s cell interrupt their conversation, and a memory from Scott’s childhood invaded his thoughts.
The phone in the kitchen rang, stopping his dad from following his mom and him out the front door. They were supposed to be on their way to the neighborhood block party, which had started fifteen minutes earlier.
“I’ll only be a few minutes.”
Scott wanted to get to the party before all the kids made plans for their scavenger hunt teams. A late arrival could be the difference between getting stuck with all the younger kids and losing or lucking out with the older kids and winning.
“Mommmmmmm.” Waiting all but guaranteed he’d get stuck on a losing team.
“Five minutes. If he’s not out in five minutes, we’ll go on our own.” His mom had her own reasons for wanting to get to the block party sooner rather than later. The bowl with the 7-layer salad in her hands had a spot waiting for it on the buffet table.
Ten minutes later they arrived at the party without his father, who showed up an hour after them. Long after the father-son 3-legged race Scott and Mr. Somers had raced in and placed second.
Scott didn’t want to be his father, putting business before family.
He answered the call through the car’s system. “Georgia, unless the building’s on fire. I’m busy.”
“I did call Scott Brandonson, right?”
“You know you did.”
“Do I need to have someone check under the bed for a pod?”
Lauren hid her laughter behind the hand he wasn’t keeping a firm hold on.
“Jarold wants you to call him back. He said it’s an emergency.”
“Is he on fire?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Let Mike handle it.”
“Mike’s an intern, Scott. But good job on getting his name right.”
“Fine, give it to someone else then.”
“Whatever you say, boss.” Georgia ended the call, but not before he heard her laughing.
Scott turned to Lauren. “Where were we.”
“On our way back to Dave’s to drop off the keys.”
“Let’s take a brief detour.”
Scott turned onto the main road in and out of town and headed to his hotel.
He pulled into the parking lot and they both got out of the car.
Scott glanced over at Lauren and her smile hadn’t faltered. If anything, it was bigger than before. She had barely said a word on the drive to the hotel, but if it meant he got to see her smile that way the entire time, he’d gladly take her silence. He liked it even more that he was the one who caused that smile.
Taking her hand, he pulled her against him. He wanted her as close to him as possible and when she didn’t pull away, he spun her until her body pressed against his. Her soft curves were a natural fit, and they stood silently in the parking lot for a few moments, taking everything in.
“We should probably…”
“Yeah, we should.” It didn’t matter what she thought they should do, he would be a willing participant.
She twirled away from him but kept her hand in his and pulled him towards the hotel. He couldn’t help but watch the easy way she moved. He had spent so many years imagining being with her that now that she was in front of him, he realized reality wasn’t even close to his dreams.
Scott followed her. And when she looked over her shoulder at him and smiled, he almost stumbled. Her brown eyes danced with a combination of amusement and what he hoped was something more.
They pushed their way into the lobby and Scott took over, leading her to the elevator. At that moment, he didn’t care about the desk clerk and whether there were any messages waiting for him. He only cared about the woman standing next to him.
He couldn’t help himself. He pulled her into his arms before the elevator doors slid closed and pressed his lips against hers. As soon as the doors slid open, he led her down the hallway to his hotel room. Once inside, they stood in the sitting area of the suite kissing. Nothing more. But kissing wouldn’t be enough for long.
Except, he didn’t want to end the kiss for anything, not even for what would come afterwards. His hands brushed against her back, smoothing her shirt down over her skin until he got to the waist of her pants. His fingers pulled her shirt free, and his hands found her bare skin.
The soft whimpers coming from Lauren moved through him like a jolt as the kiss deepened.
When she didn’t pull away or stop him, Scott decided two things. He was buying a house in Iron Creek, and he wasn’t going to stop. What was happening wasn’t part of his plan when he walked into Dave’s office, but there was no way he was leaving the hotel room until he made love to Lauren.
“I’ve wanted this for so long, Lauren.” He had no idea what compelled him to speak his thoughts aloud, but from the way she responded, she liked hearing those words.
Scott needed to make sure that what he wanted was what she wanted. He needed to hear her say the words. After all these years, after all the hurt, she needed to be sure she wanted the same things he did.
He pressed his hands against her cheeks and lifted her face until she looked at him. His nose brushed against hers and he kissed the tip of her nose. “Lauren, are you sure you want this? There’s no going back once this happens.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “I want you. I want this. I want everything.”
Her words freed them both from any doubts and hesitations. They pulled off their clothes with a haste that belied the romance of the moment. It wasn’t slow and sensual, there was no intent to seduce, they both wanted their clothes off — fast.