“But I don’t think I would have been if I knew how to make Taylor think of me as a woman.” She glanced at him and saw he wasn’t looking at her with anger and it made her relax. “There is a great deal of truth in some of what you’ve said to me. I am somewhat of a prisoner in my house, but it’s only because it hadn’t occurred to me to break out. When I decided to stop my studies and come to work with the union, I was able to do it. And this morning, Taylor…”
“Taylor what?” Hank asked, keeping his voice cool.
“This morning I was—well, I slept without my nightgown on and the door was open and Taylor walked by and he…he looked at me with interest. He looked at me as if I were a woman and not a child.”
Hank set aside his plate. He couldn’t eat any more. “Oh?” he managed to say. Was that what last night meant to her? That at last ol’ steel-spined Taylor had realized she was a woman? “So he looked at a half-nude woman in bed and showed some interest, did he?”
“You always manage to make Taylor sound less than human. Don’t you realize that he’s been my teacher since I was a child? Of course he’d think of me as a schoolgirl. That’s why when I kissed him he—”
“He what?”
“He was repulsed by me,” she answered softly, remembering the hurt. “He has kissed me since, but it wasn’t the same.”
“The same as what?”
“Well, you know,” she answered, her face turning red.
“Perhaps you should tell me.”
“Last night, what we did…It was as if I couldn’t help myself. You are so much more experienced than Taylor. I mean, women are everywhere around you. Reva kisses you, Lily Webster looked as if she wanted to do with you what we did, and I’m sure you have many women at your college.”
“Hundreds,” he said. “Thousands. Everywhere I go women fall all over themselves to go to bed with me.” He couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. She was making him feel like a gigolo while Taylor was a respected citizen with morals—someone worth having. “Where is this heading, Amanda?”
“I wonder if maybe you’d teach me. I mean, you have been teaching me, but I’ve been a reluctant student but perhaps I could become a willing student.”
“Teach you what? How to make love?” His eyebrows were nearly in his hairline. This is how a prospector felt when he struck gold.
“No, of course not. You taught me that last night, and I’m grateful. I won’t be afraid of my wedding night now and I’ll know what to do.”
“You’re welcome,” Hank said, and refrained from telling her he doubted if Taylor knew about the things they’d done last night.
“Would you teach me the part of life that’s not in books? Such as dancing and motion pictures and whatever else men and women do together? Maybe if I quit acting as a schoolgirl, Taylor will stop treating me as one.”
Taylor, Hank thought. He was beginning to hate the man. She looked on last night as a prelude to her wedding night with Taylor. So what else did Hank want? Did he want her to say that after last night she couldn’t bear to live without him? Did he want her to be another Blythe Woodley? He’d wanted to sleep with Blythe, then have her find some other man to marry, and now Amanda was offering him just that, but for some reason Amanda’s offer was making him angry.
“Motion pictures, huh? Anything else?” he asked at least. “No more sex lessons?”
She looked away, blushing. “I’m sure we covered everyth
ing last night.”
“Tip of the iceberg,” he said, as if he were talking about the weather. “There are many other positions, such as you on top or standing or sitting or—”
“Standing?” she asked curiously. “I mean, how…? I just wondered, physically, how…?”
“I’d stand and you’d wrap your legs around my waist and I’d support your—” He cupped his hands as if to hold her buttocks. “And I’d set you down on my old man.”
“Your—?” Amanda laughed, then stopped herself. “I think last night was enough teaching in that area. I think I’ll wait until my marriage to Taylor.” Although she couldn’t imagine Taylor setting her down on his…“Dr. Montgomery,” she said softly, “do you think I could have a baby from last night?”
Hank choked on the iced tea he was drinking. “I hope not,” he said sincerely.
“But I thought that what we did was meant for procreation. I am somewhat concerned about this.”
“Amanda,” he said, exasperated. She was talking to him as if he were another woman. “I don’t know too much about this kind of thing. I’ve been to bed with many, I mean a few women here and there, and I don’t think any of them have had my children. In fact, I’m sure one of them would have mentioned the fact to me. And lovemaking is for procreation but it’s also somewhat pleasurable. Didn’t you enjoy yourself last night?”
Amanda couldn’t look at him. Enjoy herself? She’d nearly died in pleasure last night. This morning she could have taken a gun to both him and Reva when she’d seen them touching. “Yes, I did,” she whispered. “But I thought one…mating equaled one child. Married couples…” She trailed off as she had no idea what married couples did.
“Married couples,” Hank said quietly, “make love often. For example, if, say, you and I were married, I’d make love to you every night and in the morning before I went off to teach and I’d probably come home to lunch, too. You couldn’t possibly have a child every time.”