Vice(22)

"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."