“Jon,” Patricia said, grasping his shoulders as he dropped to his knees before her. “Really, I’m very satisfied, so this isn’t necessary.”

“It really is,” he insisted, hooking his fingers in her panties and holding them out of the way. His eyes locked on her rosy, swollen clit and his mouth watered. “You see,” he told her, stroking one finger through her cleft and plunging it deep into her opening. He scented his own fluid mixed with hers and felt his cock twitch between his thighs. “Something this pretty deserves to be licked.” He dragged his tongue over her tight little nub and circled it once. “It deserves to be pleasured.” He repeated the action, and then ventured further out, running his tongue over her lush, swollen folds. “It deserves to be worshiped.”

Pure male pride suffused him as Patricia tipped her head back, moaning long and low. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip, her eyes squeezing tightly shut as her hips bucked subtly.

Pinching her clit between his lips, Jon sucked, flicked and licked her until he felt the strength of her orgasm clutching the fingers he held deep inside of her. Her entire body trembled with the force of it. Sliding her panties back into place, Jon scooped up her discarded shorts, lifted one foot off the floor, and helped her step into them.

He smiled devilishly as he rose to his feet and drew his hand down his mouth to wipe the evidence of her release from his lips. “Now we can head back.”

Patricia placed her hand in his and let him lead her out. “Are you hungry?” he asked as they descended the stairs together. “I’m thinking I could go for a sandwich and maybe one of those brownies.”

Patricia laughed under her breath. “After the meal you just had, I would have thought you’d be full.”

Jon whirled around and pinned her to the wall, framing her with his arms. He lowered his face to within an inch of hers and dropped his voice so his words wouldn’t carry. “Make no mistake, Patricia, with you I’ll always be a starving man.”

Her eyes darted back and forth between both of his, measuring the weight of truth in his statement. When he was certain she’d found what she was looking for, he tugged her the rest of the way through the house and back outside, no longer hungry for food, but something infinitely sweeter.

17

“Should I tell your mother to start knitting booties?” Walter asked as Jon stepped back into the garage.

“What?” Jon shot his father a dubious look as he bent to pick up a small wooden table.

“I cut my finger on a staple earlier and came inside to get a Band-Aid, but it seemed the bathroom was occupied.” One bushy eyebrow arched up. “You know they make beds for that kind of thing, right? More to the point, they make beds that you can put in your bedroom, in your home. Get my drift?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jon waved him off, burying the twinge of embarrassment at having been caught in the act by his good old dad. It wouldn’t be the first time, but the cool thing about his dad was that he’d always been very relaxed about things. Even sex. “But if you had a girl like her on your arm, you’d understand why it couldn’t wait.”

“I do have a girl like that,” his father said, turning his head to look out across the front lawn. “See that woman over there with the killer legs and smile? That’s all mine, and once we’re done here and I can get you out of my house, I won’t be able to wait either.”

“Gross, Dad. Just gross.” Jon’s face pinched in disgust. The last thing any kid wanted to hear was that their parents had sex more than the one time it took to conceive them. Even then, Immaculate Conception would have been preferable.

“So,” his father said, plopping down in a dusty Adirondack and blowing out a tired breath. “How has life been treating you?”

Jon dragged another chair over and sat down beside him. Together they watched the activity going on outside. It felt like they were in their own little world apart from the rest. “Pretty well.”

“Business is good?”

“Yep.”

“Your mother said something about you looking for an accountant?”

Jon nodded. “Yep. Mine quit. Not a big deal, though. I have one of my workers on it.”

“That’s good. I’m glad to see that you’re successful. It’s hard running your own business.” He glanced over at him. “I’m proud of you, son.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Outside, a few people milled around, hunting for random treasures among their used junk. Patricia and his mother moved with them, answering questions and pointing out prices of things that were clearly labeled.

“So what is it about this one that made you want to bring her home?”

His father’s question startled him, and Jon had to sit and think for a minute before a suitable answer came to him. “She’s a challenge. She makes me smile, and I feel like I haven’t really smiled in a long time.” His eyes followed her every movement as he spoke, soaking her in inch by inch. “I feel happy when I’m with her.”

His father’s rough hand patted him on the knee. “That’s good, son. That’s exactly what I want to hear.”

Doubt dropped like a stone in Jon’s gut, as it always did when he traveled this line of thought. “I’m afraid I’m going to screw it all up.”

“I’m sure you will,” his father said definitively. “Men tend to screw shit up. I mean, look at me. I’ve been married to your mother for thirty-two years and I screw shit up every day. You just have to make sure you find a woman who’s willing to put up with you.”

“Yeah, but my baggage…” Jon hesitated, the words sticking in his throat. “That’s a tough pill to swallow. I’m afraid it’ll destroy everything when she finds out.”

Meeting his eyes, his father grew serious. “If she loves you, you’ll find a way to get through it. But, Jon, the problem here isn’t her, it’s you.” He looked out across the yard at their women. “At some point you have to forgive yourself and move on. You have to surrender everything, your past, your present, your future. If you want to be happy, you’re going to have to let go and surrender to love and trust that it’s strong enough to carry you through the worst so you can find your way through to the best. You’re going to have to tell her, son. The sooner the better.”

Swallowing thickly, Jon nodded, hearing the truth in his words ringing loud and clear. He was willing to surrender everything for a chance at something more with Patricia. Would she be willing to surrender her love to him after he revealed his secret to her?

* * *

So Stephanie put her in charge of the cash box. Patti wasn’t sure if that was a testament to the woman’s trust in her, or a test. Just the idea that it could be a test brought out the wicked and playful side of her. Had Stephanie been anyone other than Jon’s mother, she might have been tempted to stuff a couple of small bills in her pocket just to shake things up a bit. The girls would have had a real hoot over it, but she didn’t want to do anything that would engender any bad feelings.

She knew this was important to Jon, even though they hadn’t been together long, which meant it was important to her, too. Crazy how things just worked out sometimes.

She’d just finished counting out change to a woman who’d bought a country-style duck statue clothed in a dress when Jon and his father approached the table.

“We’re going to head across the street to give the Shelbys a hand,” Jon informed her. Sweat dampened his brow and stained his t-shirt darker under his arms and across his chest. Patti couldn’t help thinking about how delicious he looked, all hot and tired. His muscles bulged in places from the constant workout of lugging around heavy objects, but she wasn’t about to complain. Rather, it made her want to crawl over the table separating them and climb his body like a tree. She couldn’t wait until later when she had him all to herself. Oh, the things she wanted to do to his body. Sinful, wicked things that could get her arrested. The spot between her thighs, already saturated by their earlier lovemaking, clenched tight, and she felt the liquid heat of Jon’s semen wet the inside of her thigh.

How embarrassing.

It was a good thing no one else could see what was happening just then.

When she looked up at Jon, heat still lingering in his blue eyes, Patti felt herself blush all the way down to her toes. Not just because Jon was staring at her as if he wanted to eat her up all over again, but because Walter was standing right there, watching the silent communication pass between them as if he knew the details of the message being sent.

“Oh, okay,” she said, forcing her smile up a notch. “I would say have fun, but, well…” She shrugged. There was nothing fun about hard labor in this kind of heat, and they well knew it. She was sweating enough as it was, and she had the benefit of being shaded by a tree.

Jon winked at her, and then turned to walk away. Patti’s heart thumped wildly in her chest. Just being near him drove her wild. If she weren’t careful now, he might take her heart as his prize when he walked away. Because he would. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day. They always did.

But for now, Patti smiled to herself. For now, she had him, and she was going to enjoy him.

“Uh oh, I know that look.” Stephanie joined her at the table and dropped an armload of clothing on to it. Patti reached out and picked up a pair of jeans to help fold.

“What look is that?” she asked curiously.

“The one that says you’re hopelessly, madly in love with my son.” Stephanie flashed her megawatt smile at her.

Patti sucked air between her teeth and shook her head in denial, but the words that spilled out of her mouth surprised her. “What’s not to love? He’s intelligent, successful, confident, strong and…” She blew out a steadying breath as her eyes sought him out among the growing crowd. She found him, arms flexing, butt firm as he helped another man load up a mattress set into the bed of a truck.