Page 50 of Life, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness

Was this core of wantonness always in me, hibernating, just waiting for the right man to draw it out?

Is that right man Merrill?

Is this a one-night stand . . . an affair . . . or something more?

Do I want something more?

Can I afford something more, with all my baggage?

Why not just enjoy the moment, and stop looking back, or peering forward?

So many questions!

Merrill was fast asleep now, belly down, spread-eagle on her bed, taking up most of the room on the double mattress. She smiled at the view of his world-class white buttocks. The rest of his long, lean body was suntanned to a deep bronze, not just from their week out on the water, but from years spent outdoors with the SEALs. She also smiled, thinking that she’d had the ability to wear him out so.

Unlike Merrill, Delilah was unable to sleep, despite trying for the past hour. It was four a.m., but she was too hyped-up.

Slipping out from under Merrill’s arm, she grabbed his dress shirt and padded out barefoot to the kitchen where she did what she always did when unable to sleep, or whenever she had a free moment, actually. Baking. And she barely stifled a laugh as she grabbed for some fresh lemons.

After putting on a fresh pot of coffee, she sat glazing her lemon cinnamon rolls when Merrill came out. He wore white boxer briefs and that’s all, leaving all that six-foot-three muscled body open for her inspection. Broad shoulders, narrow waist and hips, long legs. His short hair was rumpled from sleep. In other words, sex personified. He sniffed the air. “Is that smell what I think it is? Lemons?”

“Yes. Lemon cinnamon rolls with honey glaze. Fresh from the oven.”

“Great. And coffee, too! You are a wonder woman!”

“Wonder woman, or wonderful?” she asked, before she had a chance to check her tongue. She didn’t usually make suggestive remarks like that.

“Both.” He stuck a fingertip in the bowl of honey glaze and licked it. “Yum!”

She felt the lick in her own body, deep down.

And he knew it! His dancing eyes said it all.

The tease!

“It’s only six o’clock. Are you sure you want to get up so early?”

“Unless you want to come back to bed with me.”

“Seriously? You’re insatiable.”

He arched his brows at her.

“Okay, I’m insatiable, too. But I have a lot to do today to get ready for tomorrow’s return to the site. Laundry’s done, but there’s shopping to do, and phone calls, and I need to finish up the motel rooms.”

“I’ll help. Then we’ll have time to—” He waggled his eyebrows.

“Merrill!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk!” He shook a forefinger at her. “I was going to say, time to come back here and let me cook you dinner, for a change. I make great grilled black and blue burgers.”

“I don’t have a grill.”

“We’ll buy a grill.”

He sat down at her small table and she placed a mug of black coffee with one teaspoon of sugar, the way he liked it, along with two warm pastries on a plate in front of him. He stared at them for a moment, then raised his head to look at her, suddenly serious. “Thank you,” he said.

She cocked her head in confusion. “It’s just cinnamon rolls. I can make them in my sleep.”