Who's Taming Who? Page 15

  When she returned she started playing at his feet, working her way up his body. He was still hard and aching with desire. She continued teasing him without taking him over the edge for a long, long time.

  Suddenly, instead of incoherent moans, he managed to speak up, stopping her. “I want to be inside you, Lanie love.”

  She brought her mouth up to his with a laugh and said, “Well, I guess that’s okay with me if you insist.”

  She quickly untied him. He rolled over her and entered her in one smooth, hard thrust. It was a fast and furious lovemaking, with Frank’s gentle restraint and control completely gone.

  By the time his alarm clock went off, they were finished. It was time to get up but neither one of them could move an inch. They were exhausted. Their night, their incredible night was over, but the day held the promise of many fantastic nights to come.

  “Wow!” he said, exhausted. “And to think, I thought you were a little inhibited.”

  “Not any more.” She cuddled up to him. “You are the one responsible for bringing me out of my shell.”

  “I just didn’t realize how far out of the shell you would come.” He laughed.

  “And I even made us breakfast.” She grinned. “We may need to keep our strength up.”

  “Don’t even say the word UP around me for a while, okay?” Frank moaned, teasing her.

  “Then let’s go eat that breakfast,” she suggested, pulling him out of bed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I can take the day off work,” Frank offered over breakfast. “I always get at least one day off after a business trip; besides, I’m not really due back until Monday. How about you?”

  “Are you nuts?” Lanie laughed. “Landscaping your house is my biggest job right now and we have to fix the pipe and let your property dry off before we can do any more. Besides, Jack is one of my partners, and Laura would kill him if he didn’t cover for me today.”

  “Then I propose that we take a short nap, make love again, then shower, and after that take Cassie out to do something fun for the day.” He kissed her. “I have the strangest feeling I should get to know her better, real soon. I just hope she likes me.”

  “She liked you a lot when she went to the hospital after she cut her face. She kept telling me how nice you were. She’ll like you.” Lanie smiled at him and continued, “She’s got great taste, besides she can be bribed. I can think of several things she’d like, not that I would suggest you try to buy her affection, of course.”

  “Of course not,” Frank said as they left the table. “But as long as I’m not buying her affection, what would she want?”

  “I think the best thing you can give her is a fun day.” She kissed him. “Maybe the beach,” another kiss, “maybe Disneyland,” another kiss, “maybe horseback riding, she loves horses.” A long deep kiss. “But that’s after you give me what I want, and I want you deep inside me right after I make a quick phone call.” She reached for the bedside phone.

  Lanie called home. “How is everything?”

  “Cassie is getting ready for school. I was just about to take her,” Tina replied. “As it is, I called in and said I’d be late for work.”

  “I’ll call the school and tell them Cassie’s sick because the three of us are going to spend the day together,” Lanie said. “Frank wants to get to know her. We’ll come home and get her in a little while. Will you be able to stay until we get there?”

  “No problem, they just put me down for the night shift. So? How was the night?” Tina had held the question back as long as she could.

  “The words to describe last night don’t exist, not in this world. Tina, you’ve got to let Kate and Laura go to work on you.” Lanie laughed. “I thought I was happy as a single mom, I really did. Now I know what I’ve been missing. I’m stunned.”

  “I’m so happy for you,” Tina told her. “No one deserves that kind of happiness more than you.”

  Lanie hung up the phone and looked at Frank. “I need you, Frank.” She reached for him and led him back to the bedroom.

  “I aim to please.” Frank poised himself over her.

  “And you’ve got darn good aim.” She wrapped her arms around him and once again they left the world far behind.

  In the end it was the pleasant morning-after lassitude that determined how Frank and Lanie would spend the day with Cassie. To put it simply, Frank and Lanie were both way too tired to spend the day walking around Disneyland, and Lanie’s legs were a bit too stiff to really enjoy horseback riding. That left the beach. Besides that, it was a perfect southern California beach day, sunny and hot.

  Just a few minutes after they made love again, Lanie dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. This time, at her insistence, she showered alone. Frank pretended to be put out but he knew exactly why she wanted to shower by herself. He realized that if he joined her in the shower, they’d never get over to Lanie’s house to pick Cassie up. While Lanie was still in the shower the phone rang.

  Frank paced over to the phone and answered it. “Hello.”

  It was Kate calling from the office. She said, “Welcome back to civilization, Frank. How was your trip?”

  “It was okay,” Frank said noncommittally, “just a few days too long. I missed Lanie.”

  “I know, she missed you, too.” Kate smiled as she leaned back in her office chair. “Congratulations on the promotion, Frank, you really deserved it. I hope you had a good time in Texas, but Bob said you probably didn’t because corporate headquarters can be fairly stuffy and boring. By the way, I left something special for you and Lanie outside your apartment door. I hope you both enjoy it. Oh, by the way, tell Lanie I said good-morning and give her a kiss for me.”

  “I will when I see her,” Frank said vaguely.

  “Which will be in about five minutes when she gets out of the shower,” she stated with authority.

  “Why do you think she’s here?” Frank wondered.

  Kate didn’t reply, she just gave a kind of snort and hung up with a decisive click.

  Frank replaced the receiver as soon as he heard the click. Lanie came out of the shower drying herself and looking at Frank with a question in her eyes. Ignoring her questioning glance, he strode to the apartment door and opened it. Outside he found a wicker picnic basket, a red and white plastic cooler, a beach blanket, and a large plastic shopping bag. He brought everything inside the apartment.

  “What’s that?” Lanie asked curiously.

  “A care package from Kate,” he told her, examining the picnic basket. “She really should work for one of those psychic networks. She knew we’d spend the day together, and I think she knew just how we plan to spend it. She packed everything we need for a day at the beach.”

  “Does she know we spent the night together?” Lanie wondered.

  “Yes, but I’m not sure how she knew it. She did say to tell you good morning when you got out of the shower,” Frank gave her a mind-numbing kiss, “and to give you a wake-up kiss.”

  “That kiss felt like it was entirely your idea,” Lanie whispered breathlessly. She raised up on her toes for another kiss, her lips lingering against his mouth. “What’s in the bag?”

  “Check it out.” Handing her the bag he said, “I’ve found a note.” He read the note to himself.

  “She’s bought some clothes for me. Black shorts and a white T-shirt, plus there’s a tiny green print bikini far too revealing for me to actually wear out in public, and a wrap around skirt in a matching fabric, sunscreen, and a new toothbrush,” Lanie inventoried the bag. “Everything’s even the right size.”

  “Lanie, just this once, wear the bikini.” Frank leveled a gaze at her. “For me?”

  “I’ll think about it.” Frank’s gaze made her feel warm all over.

  “Listen to this: ‘I figured you two would want to spend the day together with Cassie. I’d suggest a lazy day at the beach or even a private day by our pool. I put a set of our house keys in the picnic basket for you. Bob and I
are going to take the kids to a movie after work so we won’t get home until after seven. P.S. I hope you like chocolate mousse and strawberries.’” Frank put down the note. “Well, now that you have clothes, get dressed! Let’s go!”

  Lanie pulled on the bikini and put the shorts and T-shirt over it. Frank showered quickly and got dressed in his black swimming trunks and a soft blue T-shirt. He put the picnic basket, blanket, and the cooler in the jeep.

  “Frank, we need to drop this jeep off at the company yard and pick up my car.’’ Lanie directed him to where her own car was parked, and once there, they transferred the cooler and picnic basket to the trunk of her car. Then they went to Lanie’s house and picked up Cassie.

  As soon as Lanie’s car pulled up in front of the house, Cassie came bounding out of the house in her red and white swimsuit. She had a towel, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt in a bag.

  “Hi Mom! Hi Frank! Boy! This is going to be neat!” Cassie exclaimed. “I get to spend a day at the beach instead of going to school.”

  She accepted a hug from Lanie before she settled in the backseat and fastened her seatbelt without any prompting. She was excited and exhilarated. Her mood was catching, Lanie and Frank exchanged wide grins as they buckled up before they started the car and drove away.

  “I’m glad you like the idea, Cassie,” Frank said as soon as he started the car. “I really wanted to spend some time with you and get to know you better. I’m glad you remember me. I see your face has healed really well, I can hardly see where you cut it.”

  “I know, I remember you were at the hospital. I also remember talking to you at that funny wedding with the puppies.” Like a typical kid, out of all that happened that day the puppies stood out the clearest in her mind. Remembering them, she giggled before continuing, “I also read some of the notes you sent to my Mommy as her secret admirer. They were pretty neat, but some of them were kinda silly. I liked the presents.”

  “I didn’t write all the notes, so I don’t know if I wrote the silly ones and the only presents I sent her were the pearls. Somebody else must have sent the other presents,” Frank shrugged, “but anyway, your Mommy’s really special and I like her a whole lot.” Frank smiled into the rearview mirror. “I hope we can be friends, too.”

  “So far, so good,” the precocious nine-year-old said, grinning.

  Frank laughed, amused and surprised by the girl’s spirit. He thought to himself about how much she took after her mother. It was just a short ride to the beach and since school was in session, there wasn’t the usual fruitless search for a decent parking space. Sometimes you had to trail people as they walked towards a car hoping to get their space as they left. They didn’t have that problem. In fact, it seemed like only minutes until they were spreading out the blanket in a prime spot not too far from a lifeguard tower.

  The sand was warm and perfect, and they were just far enough from the lapping waves so they could stay several hours before the tide would move them farther back up the beach. Lanie almost immediately shed her outer clothes and laid out on the big beach blanket. Frank wound up with sunscreen duty, gently applying it to Lanie’s back, and then to Cassie’s. Lanie returned the favor and spread some on his back, before she settled back on the blanket and shut her eyes.

  “Frank, do you want to take a walk with me?” Cassie asked eagerly.

  “How about your mom?” Frank asked.

  “She can come too, of course, but she looks kinda tired to me. What did you two do all night?” Cassie asked, innocently.

  “Cassie!” Lanie interrupted, blushing. She sat up again and said, “Let me put some sunscreen on you before you and Frank go wandering off.”

  “Frank already did, Mommy, remember?” Cassie said, sounding a bit irritated. “I just wanted to find out if you and Frank had a good time last night.”

  Frank smothered a grin as he knelt down on the blanket. “Yeah, Lanie, did you and I have a good time last night?”

  “You know we did.” Lanie’s smile was age-old, knowing and mysterious at the same time.

  “Frank, will you tell me what you and Mommy did?” Cassie turned to him. “She’s so tired.”

  “What did your Mommy and I do last night?” He sent Lanie a look that caused shivers to run down her spine. “Well, your Mommy was really muddy, so I made sure she took a long shower then we had a really good dinner, and we talked and listened to music all night long. Will you spread some lotion on my chest, too?”

  “Only if you promise to return the favor.” Lanie smiled, rubbing the cool lotion on Frank’s broad chest.

  “My pleasure, Ma’am.” The smile was devilish. He took the lotion and very gingerly rubbed Lanie’s shoulders and her chest above the bikini top.

  “What else did you two do?” Cassie probed. “She’s too tired for just talking. Did you kiss her?”

  “Well,” Frank drew out the word, “yeah, a few times. Girls like that, you know. Grown up girls.”

  “What else?” Cassie insisted.

  “Well, I tickled her and we wrestled with each other a little bit,” Frank admitted. “Of course, we stayed up very late.”

  “It sounds like it was fun.” Cassie decided, “I wish I’d been there with you.” She and Frank walked off hand in hand while Lanie stretched out again on the blanket.

  Cassie’s curiosity wasn’t satisfied for long, however, and as soon as they were out of earshot from Lanie she looked up at Frank with another question burning in her eyes.

  Finally she asked, “Are you going to be my Daddy?”

  “I’m not sure.” Frank had enough experience with kids to answer as honestly as possible. “I think it’s a good possibility, but it’s too soon to be sure. You’re a big part of the decision, you know. I love your mother, but we haven’t known each other very long. Of course, you have to be part of the family, a very important part of the family, so you and I have to get along, too.”

  “I think we will.” Cassie met his gaze with her little chin up and said, “As long as you’re nice to my Mommy and to me.” The imp grinned. “A day off from school now and then and an ice cream sundae once in a while wouldn’t hurt either.”

  “A day off from school is a rare treat, and only for a girl who is getting very good grades,” Frank said sternly before he grinned. “Ice cream, however, is a necessity of life.”

  “Do you have any pets?” Cassie asked hopefully.

  “No, why?” Frank asked with curiosity.

  “I was just hoping you had a dog,” she told him. “I’ve always wanted one but I’ve never had one.”

  “I live in an apartment, so there’s no room for a dog to run and play,” he told her. “But I’m moving into a house soon, a big house with as large yard, so I expect I’ll get a puppy soon.”

  “Can I play with it?” she asked with a wistful tone in her voice.

  “Of course you can, Sweetie.” Frank leaned down to hug her. “A puppy needs all the love it can get.”

  “Neat.” Cassie grinned, melting his heart.

  Frank took Cassie over to the lifeguard tower and introduced her to the lifeguard before he picked up the little girl and carried her out into the ocean. He held her high in the air, causing her to shrill with delight before dropping her into the cool shallow water. Soon they were in a major water fight accompanied by girlish squeals, masculine shouts, and lots of splashing. When they walked back to the beach blanket they noticed that Lanie was still sound asleep.

  “Let’s build a sandcastle and let your Mommy sleep,” Frank suggested. “She must really need it.”

  “Great!” Cassie grabbed her plastic bucket and pail. “Frank? Did you enjoy the mystery train trip? My grandma said you would.”

  Frank was already digging in the sand like an overgrown child. He paused and looked up at her. “What?”

  “Did you like the trip?” she repeated. “On the train.”

  Frank answered, “It was great! We had a lot of fun and really got to spend some time together. Did your gra
ndma send the tickets?”

  “She bought the tickets but I thought it up,” Cassie said proudly. “I heard my friend say that her parents went on a trip like that and they liked it. I thought you and Mommy would enjoy it.”

  “You’re too smart for your own good, Cassie.” Frank was stunned, realizing that he’d just discovered the final secret admirer. “But let’s see if you can build a castle.”

  Together they built a truly sad, lop-sided, but somehow grand sandcastle. They dug a moat to keep most of the rising tide from ruining their masterpiece too soon. Finally, Cassie complained that she was getting hungry. They walked hand in hand back to the blanket where Lanie slept.

  “Lanie, wake up!” Frank told her. “We’re hungry.”

  “How long have I been asleep?” Lanie shrugged herself awake.

  “A couple of hours. We’ve been swimming, had a real water fight, and we built a really neat sandcastle. Lop-sided and all, it was perfect.” He sat down on the blanket beside her and continued, “But now we’re hungry.”

  “Mommy?” Cassie asked. “Am I still going to my Girl Scout meeting this afternoon?”

  “Would you like to?” Lanie asked.

  “Well, they’re planning our campout, and the leader told us we should be sure to come to this meeting if we want to go,” Cassie explained. “I really want to go to the campout.”

  “Then you should go to the meeting. After we eat lunch we’ll take you to it, okay?” Lanie told her.

  They opened the picnic hamper and got out the plastic utensils, paper plates and cups. They also found biscuits and jelly in the hamper. They dug into the cooler and feasted on the lunch of cold fried chicken, potato salad, and coleslaw. They also found a large bottle of soda in the cooler, along with some bottled water. There was also a special dessert in the hamper: chocolate cupcakes with tiny sprinkles on top.

  As soon as they finished the lunch they packed up their stuff. They took another walk along the beach, this time resulting in a three-way water fight.