Page 20 of Sin With Me

“Kate, this is going to get worse by evening. You should go inside when I’mdone.”

“Thank you. I will. I feel so stupid, falling asleep while tanning.”

As I gently swept my hand over her back, I wished I could have put more pressure into the rub, but that would have hurt her. The tender skin-to-skin touch would have to suffice. “You must have been tired to pass out like this in the middle of theday.”

“I was working late last night. Just trying to organize some of the paperwork for Father John. Your light was still on when I went home, though. Did you have a hard time falling asleep?”

I moved my hand lower to the small dip in her back and spread the gel from above her bikini bottoms up to the string mid-way.

“Yes, I usuallydo.”

Was it better to lie? Should I just have told her that I’d been praying? It was what I should have said, but I didn’t.

“Anything you want to talk about? You know, since we’re friends andall.”

I should have stood up and walked away right then, but her partially burned skin was so delicate and felt so good to my touch that I had a difficult time pulling away. Her sides weren’t doneyet.

“Priests aren’t perfect, Kate.”

She turned her head to the side and smiled at me. As I finished with her left side, swiping over that tattoo that curved around her ribcage, I wished I could gently pull on that string on her hip. I imagined the fabric falling over her pear-shaped ass. Unfortunately, the gentlest of skin to skin touches would have to suffice. The sun adored her skin almost as much as Idid.

“Of course not. We’re all human.”

Right.

“What I’m trying to say is that I blame myself for mistakes that shouldn’t have been made in the first place. Like rubbing this cream on you, Kate.”

“You think you’re making a mistake?”

If she could only feel how stiff I was, kneeling beside her, she’d agree withme.

“I’m trying to help a friend who doesn’t know how seductive she is.” Although now I was beginning to understand why many priests chose to be secluded.

“You’re helping me avoid what could have been a second-degree burn. What you’re doing now, is within reason, even for a priest. You’re a very reasonable man. That’s all there’s toit.”

Did she just wiggle her behind?

I swear, she was a vixen and didn’t even know it. I wondered whether Kate saw me in a different light than I truly wanted her to. I didn’t want her to think of me as this perfect being who wore a collar around his neck to represent the good in this world. I wanted her to see me for me because anything other than that was alie.

“I haven’t told this to anyone, Kate, but sometimes I question whether I’d made the right choice by taking this job,” I sighed.

“You’re so good at it, though.”

She twisted again, and sat up, her legs criss-crossed in front of me. I rested my aloe-infused hands on my knees and sat back on my heels. Seeing her this vulnerable stirred feelings inside of me I couldn’t quite understand. It wasn’t just lust or a need for her, because those were present at all times. It was something completely new and unfamiliar.

“Don’t talk like you’re going to leave tomorrow. Father John needs you. The kids, they love you; they need you here as well. I needyou.”

How I wished I could take her words truly into my heart, but I couldn’t. “Thank you, Kate. I should go now. Stay out of thesun.”

The best decision at the moment was to avoid her. I could barely walk straight back to the church. My shower took longer as I fantasized about us. Instead of doing my job, my mind was filled with her. If I didn’t get a grasp of this Kate situation, I’d fail before I even got started.

I’d remember the morning of that early summer day as simple; and a simple lust after a beautiful woman was nothing to be ashamed of. By the afternoon, after I spoke with Kate, it became more difficult to understand what she meant to me, and I never expected that by the next morning, I’d see her naked.

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