Gary flinched angrily. “Not where Jade’s concerned.”
“Here you go, Gary,” the waitress said, sliding the two desserts through the window. “One butterscotch sundae and one chocolate. That’ll be a dollar fifty.”
“Thanks.” Gary paid her, then pulled two paper napkins from the dispenser and took a sundae in each hand. He turned away from the window, but Neal blocked his path, flanked by Hutch and Lamar.
“Which one’s Jade’s?”
Missing the point of Neal’s seemingly innocuous question, Gary shrugged. “The butterscotch.”
Each sundae was crowned with a bright red cherry. Neal took the cherry by its stalk and plucked it off the mound of whipped cream. He sucked it into his mouth, then, with a dramatic gesture, pulled the stem out. He rolled the cherry in his mouth before catching it between his front teeth where it was visible. Looking directly at Jade, he suggestively sank his teeth into it, then chewed it with lascivious pleasure before swallowing it.
Facing Gary, he smirked. “Tell your girl friend I enjoyed eating her cherry.”
“You sorry son of a bitch. Eat this.”
Gary shoved one of the sundaes into Neal’s smug face. Neal, taken completely off guard, staggered backward, choking on the goo that covered his face. Gary seized the advantage. Hooking his heel around Neal’s, he yanked hard, pulling Neal off his feet. He went down backward onto the pavement.
Gary stood above him. “Keep your filthy mouth shut about Jade.” He dumped the second sundae into Neal’s lap, then strode to his car.
Neal leaped to his feet, sputtering threats. “I’ll kill you for that, Parker. Nobody fucks with me like that and gets away with it.” He became aware of the comic spectacle he was making of himself and diverted his fury. “Jesus Christ!” he shouted to his two friends, who were immobilized with shock over seeing Neal outdone. “Are you gonna just stand there with your thumbs up your asses? Help me out here.”
Hutch and Lamar sprang forward, offering handkerchiefs and paper napkins. As he wiped his face clean, Neal glared at Gary’s retreating car. The farmer might think he had gotten the best of him, but he had another think coming.
Chapter Two
“I should have beaten him to within an inch of his life.”
“You made your point, Gary.” Jade laughed when she remembered Neal’s flabbergasted expression as the soft frozen custard dripped off his nose.
“Why didn’t I give him what he really had coming?”
“Because you’re not a Neanderthal like him. A fistfight is beneath your dignity. Besides, you were outnumbered. You would have had to fight Hutch and Lamar, too.”
“I’m not afraid of them!”
Jade thought that expending so much energy on machismo was ridiculous, but she did her best to stroke Gary’s ego. “Please stop fretting about it. Neal’s not worth it.” After a short silence, she asked, “What did he say to make you so mad?”
“Something typical of him,” he replied dismissively. “One of his sly innuendos. His mind is a septic tank. He insulted you.” He slammed his fist into his opposite palm. “God, he’s a son of a bitch. I don’t care how rich he is, he’s vermin.”
“Knowing that, why are you letting him spoil our time together? I’ve got to be home soon.”
Gary had soft brown hair and tender amber eyes. Gentleness was more at home on his face than anger. At Jade’s mild rebuke, his face relaxed into its usual affable expression. He stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “You’re right. It would tickle Neal to know he had ruined our evening. It’s just that I hate to hear your name coming out of his filthy mouth.”
She combed her fingers up through his hair. “I love you, Gary Parker.”
“I love you, too.”
Kissing her with fervor and passion, he pressed his hand against the small of her back, bringing together as much of their bodies as was possible within the confines of the front seat of his car. He had parked in a remote spot on a road that bordered one of the tidal swamps.
Outside, the February evening was cool and damp. Inside the car, it was warm and getting warmer. Within minutes, the windows were fogged up. Jade and Gary were breathing heavily, their fine young bodies on fire with the kind of lust the preacher’s sermon had condemned. Gary buried his fingers in her thick, inky-dark hair. He slipped his other hand beneath her sweater. “Jade?” She looked up at him, her eyes fluid with desire. “You know I love you, don’t you?”
She took his hand and guided it to her breast. “I know you love me.”
They had started dating in their sophomore year. Before that, Jade had been escorted to school dances and parties by boys whose parents served as chaperons. She had met boys at the movie theater on Friday nights, but Donna Dee had always been with her. Beyond some hand-holding and an occasional, chaste good-night kiss, Jade hadn’t had intimate contact with the opposite sex until she went out with Gary. She hadn’t wanted to.
On their second date, he had parted her lips and French kissed her. Some girls claimed to love that; others said the very idea of it was revolting. After that night, Jade firmly believed that the latter group was comprised of those who had never been French kissed. Feeling Gary’s tongue moving inside her mouth had been the most delicious sensation she had ever experienced.