"Or what?" I dug my nails in to his shoulder, the impact blunted by his shirt. I was already so close to an orgasm I could almost taste it, every muscle straining for the sort of release poets wrote about. "Abraham."
"Not yet." He shook his head, his next words coming out on what I would have called a sob if it'd been anyone else. "Don't make me say it yet, Jeannie Jackson."
Because I felt some of that desperation, that feeling I was standing on some sort of ledge, steps away from falling in to an abyss I wouldn't be able to climb out of, I simply nodded, turning my head and taking his lips with mine. Less than a dozen thrusts later, the orgasm I'd been chasing turned and crashed in to me, the surge of endorphins wiping out all sound and sight for long moments before I slumped back against the mattress. Abraham collapsed on top of me, his body still quaking with his own release, the hard jerk of his hips against mine wringing another, smaller orgasm from me.
For a few minutes, the only sound in the room was our ragged breathing. Abraham cleared his throat, his lips still pressed to my slowing pulse. "I don't hate you. But I do."
"I know." I stared at the ceiling, waiting to feel the usual urge to get up and get out, worried when it didn't come. "I don't hate you, either. But I do. I have to, a little."
Or there was a good chance I wouldn't just fall in to the abyss.
I'd throw myself there, arms wide open.
And I had a feeling Abraham Hansom wasn't the sort of vice you walked away from without a few scars.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Fifteen minutes later, I was soaking in the oversized tub, my head propped up by a rolled towel, when someone knocked on the door, opening it without waiting for me to answer. Dolly tumbled in to the room, drawing up short and frowning at me. "Adults don't take bubble baths."
"I'm not sure where you heard such a horrible thing but I promise you, it's nothing but a lie." I huffed out a breath, trying to dislodge the piece of hair sticking to my forehead and failing miserably. "For some reason, I don't think you charged in here to critique my method of personal hygiene."
She stared at me for a moment before bursting in to one of her full-out belly laughs and I couldn't hold back an answering grin. Trailing off, she said, "You're funny, Aunt Jeannie."
"One of my few redeeming qualities." I lifted my brows, jiggling my foot and causing the thin layer of bubbles to dance. "What's up, Dolly?"
"Me and Conway are hungry. And Kitty." She plopped down on the floor next to the tub, resting her chin on the ledge. "Tammy says she isn't but she always says that because she doesn't want to get fat because people will make fun of her."
"Tammy is going to give herself an ulcer one of these days if she doesn't stop caring so much what people think about her." I stretched out my legs, flexing my calves and sighing. "Okay. Let me finish up in here and get dressed and then we'll go get some dinner. Maybe walk around for a little bit."
"Why would we walk around just to walk around?" Dolly frowned, looking so much like her mother that I had another one of those little stabs of grief. "That doesn't sound fun."
"And I bet in Cotton Creek it isn't but this is Savannah." I inclined my head toward the door. "There's a world of difference between the two."
THIRTY MINUTES LATER, the six of us were sitting at one of the better tables in Betty Bombers and I let out a happy sigh when the server set a glass of sweet tea in front of me. "Elise, you're an angel."
"You're only saying that because I brought you tea and I'm going to bring you food." Still, my favorite waitress beamed at me, as fresh faced and bright at four in the afternoon as she no doubt had been at four in the morning, her expression sobering as she glanced at the kids. "Bill came by and told us what was going on. Sorry to hear about your sister. We took up a collection and sent some flowers for the funeral."
"I saw them, they were beautiful. Thank you." And the simple gesture from a group of people I knew only tangentially had meant more than ninety percent of the covered dishes the neighbors and church congregation had forced on us. Clearing my throat in an effort to force the lump of emotion back in to place, I said, "Since none of them have been here before, we're probably going to need a few minutes."
"Oh, no worries, Jeannie." Elise waved a hand absently around the full restaurant. "You know we love having you here. Y'all take all the time you need. Let me get your drinks first and then I'll scoot off until you're ready."
"Either you're the best tipper in the world or you're secretly a very nice person." Abraham draped his arm over the back of my chair, resting his hand on my shoulder. "You get bumped to the top of the wait list, the server remembers your order even though it has to be close to a month since you've been here, and the entire staff sent flowers to your sister's funeral."
"I did a piece on them when I did the local edition of the magazine. It brought in a lot of business." I shrugged, resisting the urge to scoot closer and lean my head against his shoulder. For one, we were in public and I'd never been a huge fan of people who felt the need to suck face in crowded spaces. For another, it was too much of a couple thing and I still didn't know quite what the hell we were doing with each other. "And I suppose I tip well but not outrageously well."
"Me and Conway are ready." Dolly bounced in her seat, so full of energy it actually made me tired just watching her, and I was glad I'd vetoed her request for soda and insisted on water. "We're ready, Aunt Jeannie."
" ‘Conway and I', Dolly." I corrected her without thinking about it, my attention on the menu even though I knew it like the back of my hand. I was torn between tacos and a burger and was trying to come up with a valid reason why I couldn't have both. "And that's great. We have to wait for everybody else, though."
"Tammy's going to get a salad because that's all she ever gets." Under my lashes, I watched as Dolly stuck her tongue out at her sister and had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. "Salad and egg whites and no butter on anything."
Kitty giggled, covering her hand with her mouth. "She's right, Tammy. That's all you eat these days."
"I told you, I'm going to get kicked off the cheerleading squad if I don't make the weigh-in." Tammy sipped her water, her expression mild even though she was busy tearing her napkin in to tiny, ragged pieces. "Tina Anne said so and-."
"Unless things have changed since I was in high school, students don't have final say on who is and isn't allowed to participate in extracurricular, the staff advisor is, and I can promise you, the only staff advisor who would be stupid enough to put a weight restriction on something besides wrestling is the one who is dying to get sued for discrimination." I reached across the table, resting my hand on her busy ones and squeezing until the frantic movements stilled. "If you want to lose weight because you're trying to be healthy, then I won't say anything. None of us will. But if you're doing it because some stuck-up twit with a God-complex is saying you have to... that's where I have a problem."
"She can't kick me off the squad if I weigh more than a hundred and ten pounds?" Tammy chewed on her lower lip, the distress in her eyes obvious and heartbreaking and infuriating. "Really?"
"Is that what she told you?" When Tammy nodded, I clenched my jaw, sucking air between my teeth. Turning to Abraham, I said, "Do you happen to know the principal of the school?"
"If memory serves, he's something like my third cousin. Maybe fourth." Abraham shrugged. "The exact relationship eludes me at the moment."
"Then I don't suppose you have his phone number on you."
"I don't but I'm sure my mother does." He flashed me a quick, hot grin, the barbell in his eyebrow glinting as he arched his brow. "As a matter of fact, unless I'm mistaken, my mother is an honorary member of the Parent-Teacher Association."
"I'm not going to ask why she's an honorary member but I am going to shamelessly beg you to call her and get her to do something about the cheerleading situation before it turns in to Heathers or Jawbreakers or Mean Girls." I fluttered my lashes at him, smiling when all the kids, even Tammy, broke in to giggles. "I'll totally owe you. Like, a big one."
"If that was your attempt to talk like a teenager, it sucked, but it was strangely endearing." He leaned down and brushed his lips over mine, his grin widening. "I won't tell you how I intend to collect this particular debt, what with the kids being here and all, but I can promise you, I will collect."