Page 80 of Love and Other Trials
“That’s awfully nice,” Jeffrey drawled, turning on the windshield wipers as they crossed out of seemingly blue sky into a wall of rain as they neared the resort. “Can you believe this? It’s like there’s a bad luck perimeter, and we just crossed it. The negative energy here is making my hair stand up. I tell you, Dax, if I hadn’t grown up with the Deverell women, I don’t think I would believe it. But I did and I do.”
Dax didn’t blame him. This whole wedding debacle was busting up his former notions of reality and woo-woo. He’d believed angels guided his way up in the skies, sure. As a kid, he’d loved the movieAlwaysabout the spirit of a pilot coming back to help his successor. A few of his buddies had received a protective medal of St.Joseph of Cupertino, the patron saint of pilots, when they’d graduated from the Naval Academy, and they all knew their families prayed for their safety.
But curses? He hadn’t believed in them, but now he didn’t want to be near another one with a ten-foot pole.
“I’m new to all this, but even with my background in science and engineering, I’m having a hard time thinking of another explanation.” He watched the wind carry a swarm of spring leaves through the air. “You think we’re going to have the wedding venue back in shape in time?”
Jeffrey made a humorous face. “The forces might be stacked against you, but like General MacArthur probably said in the Pacific, I’ll bet on you boys.”
He coughed out a laugh. “You into military history, Jeffrey?”
“Sweetie, Iadoreanything military. I can’t get enough of the uniforms, and everything is so tough and phallic. From the tip of a fighter jet to military pilots drawing giant schlongs in the sky.”
Dax coughed out a laugh. Jeffrey was talking about Penis-Gate a few years back. “To set the record straight, I haveneverdrawn a penis-shaped pattern with my aircraft.”
“Too bad. I’ll bet it would have been a good one.”
Dax was trying hard not to laugh as Jeffrey pulled into the parking lot and whipped into the empty space beside Ariel’s totally soaked golf cart. “It was real nice of you to offer Ariel your ride, Captain Hotpants. I did, but she insisted she’d be fine in her Barbie cart. I wonder what had her taking your offer instead of her dear older brother’s?”
He wasn’t going to go there because he imagined Jeffrey had a naughty answer. “My ride is better.”
Jeffrey sucked in an outraged gasp. “Take that back. I love my Mercy.”
Hewoulduse a sweet nickname for his car. “Jeffrey, I’m sure your car is superior.”
Dax swung out of the passenger seat and reached for his umbrella while Jeffrey did the same. They’d just started back to the cottage when they heard their names shouted. Ariel was running through the rain with Sherlock at her side. He rushed over to cover her with his umbrella.
She tugged his shirt and drew him down for a kiss. “I needed that more than I need a drink, and I need one of those real bad. I couldn’t drink since I was driving.”
Jeffrey handed her one of the brown sacks. “Go take a shower and have some lunch with a drink. I’ll finish up my to-do list, sister dear, and catch you two lovebirds later.”
With a wink, he darted down the path through the rain. Dax’s hand slid into Ariel’s wet hand naturally, and they walked back to his cottage. Once inside, he dropped the umbrella on the floor and picked her up in his arms, heading to the shower. She looped her arms around his neck as Sherlock plopped down on his bed, his paws over his eyes.
He eyed the dog as they walked by. “That bad, huh?”
“Sherlock scented the gators, but I was too busy bemoaning the creak in the stairs leading up to the barn loft. I thought the whole place could come down on us. If I’d been paying attention, I wouldn’t have let the owner take us to the pond. Sherlock’s bark alerted me to the first gator, but he was a fast one. The owner and I had to run back to the barn.”
“Good Lord!” He set her down in the bathroom and turned on the shower, helping her strip off her clothes. “We cannot unleash your cursed relatives in a place like that. Especially with food. Imagine the carnage.”
Naked, eyes sparkling, she opened the shower door. “No, we can’t, and the image was so horrendous that I need a big, strong handsome man to assuage my fears. Know anyone?”
“My buddy, Carson, and a couple of other guys arrived to help with the mud pit.” He was already lifting off his shirt. “I could call them.”
She quirked her pointer finger at him. “But I want Stephan, and no one else.”
He chucked his pants off in one pass. “Good. Because as you can see, Stephan wants you.”
She eyed his erection and fanned herself. “I do see. Oh my, oh my, oh my, how I see. You are bringing him in with you, honey?”
Trying to keep from laughing, he followed her into the water, savoring the heat, the steam, but mostly the woman. “Never leave home without him.”
“Goody.” She wrapped her wet hand around his cock, making his eyes cross. “Because I need a treat.”
God, they both did, and he let her have her treat. Later he had his. When he finally could lift his head, she was sitting on his lap under the hot cascade of water, her forehead pressed to his shoulder. Her entire body was replete in his arms, and he felt the same way. Thank God the water was still hot.
“Are you asleep?” he whispered, not wanting to wake her up if she was taking a much-needed catnap.
“No, I’m just too relaxed to move.” And she didn’t budge even when he shifted her into his arms. “You know that moment after you’ve been on the go for hours and days, and you just crash. This is me.”
