Page 26 of Slide
Bella felt the heat of a blush. “I, uh … I wasn’t even paying attention.” How much should she tell him about her conversation with Mrs. Cleary? Should she tell him she would have the money for her car by tomorrow afternoon? Would it matter? Their little affair was due to end by Saturday anyway since he was only willing to hold her car until tomorrow.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. It was a busy afternoon and Mr. Martin showed up right after closing and demanded flowers for his wife.”
Travis chuckled and Bella felt a little relief. She needed to figure out what to do, though. She didn’t want things to end between them. She liked him and wanted to keep seeing him, but didn’t know if he felt the same connection outside sex that she did. There was comfort, laughter and it was easy to be herself. She hadn’t had that in a long time, at least on this level.
“Laugh all you want but that man scares me,” she admitted.
“Hey, you didn’t have him as a teacher.”
“No, but believe me, we heard plenty about him around town. It doesn’t appear that he’s mellowed out any after he retired from teaching and took over the hardware store. Hey, was it true his son’s nickname was MNM?”
“It was. Those were his initials. When we all found out, we chipped in and gave Mr. Martin a big jar of M&M’s. He was confused and we just laughed. None of us were brave enough to tell him the truth.”
Bella grimaced. “Poor kid.”
You get the old man his flowers?”
“I did. He even smiled when I gave them to him at no charge.” She still couldn’t get over the look on Mr. Martin’s face when she’d said she wanted to take care of the cost. It was those little things that may change some opinions of her and her name. She couldn’t buy their forgiveness, but she could make small gestures of kindness and friendship.
“No charge, huh? I bet he was shocked.”
“You could say that. Never did understand what his wife saw in him. He was always so grumpy.”
“We always suspected it was the fact he played the trumpet. Could be he had good oral skills.”
Bella smacked Travis’ arm. “Ewww.” Travis grabbed her hand and sucked at her palm, tickling the center with his tongue until she moaned.
“See?” he said, his breath hot against her damp skin. “Never underestimate the power of strong lips.” He folded her hand in his. “So … Have you been up to your old house?”
“N-no.” Bella struggled for a second with the subject change, but caught up quick enough. “I mean, I drove by a few times when I first came back to town, but haven’t been back since. The bank owns it and there’s a ‘For Sale’ sign out front. It’s painful to see it that way. My mother loved that house.”
“We always said y’all were the Ewings of Tennessee.”
Bella laughed and nodded in the darkness. She lay back on the blanket and stared up dark, inky sky. “I remember hearing that phrase once or twice growing up and had to ask my parents what it meant.”
The Drake family home mirrored the South Fork ranch in Texas, made famous by the television show Dallas. A Civil War-era plantation house were on the property too, but it couldn’t be seen from the road and that wouldn’t do for Bella’s mother. So, another house was built in full view of the whole town.
Travis lay back as well, his fingers still wrapped around hers. “I’m sorry about everything, Bells.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, but thank you. You’re the only one who feels that way. Miles isn’t as forgiving.”
“No. He’s jealous.”
“Jealous? Why?”
“You wanted me and not him.”
“Well, yeah, there is that, but he’s a bit older than me and I bet he’s not near as sexy as you when you're naked.”
“I wouldn’t know. Don’t intend to find out either.”
She turned and looked at him. He stared up at the star-studded sky and his profile was all hard lines and angles.
He had a demanding, physical job. He sometimes helped his brother with their family contracting business. Travis had no need for a gym the way the men she'd dated before had.
She preferred the man next to her. His body, his mind, his dirty, hard sexual tastes. “But to be honest, I don’t think you’re all that sorry either,” she teased.
