Orchid Beach (Holly Barker 1)

“Yeah, you’re the first. Well, I did catch our esteemed city council president looking at my tits a couple of times.”

“I don’t blame him,” Jackson said. “Considering that the alternative tits were Irma Taggert’s.”

“Oh, he would have looked anyway,” she said smugly.

“Don’t be smug.”

“I’m smug about only a few things,” she said.

“What else?”

“I’m a very good pistol shot. I’m smug about that.”

“Great. What else?”

“You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.”

“I can’t wait.” He got up and took their plates to the kitchen. “You want some dessert?”

“What’ve you got?”

“I’ve got freshly made apple pie, à la mode.”

“I’ll have the p

ie, hold the à la mode.”

“Smart girl,” he said. Shortly he returned with two plates, one à la mode.

“I’m not as skinny as you are,” she said. “A girl has to watch her figure.”

“Don’t worry, John Westover and I will do that for you.”

“That’s a load off my mind.”

They finished their dessert and Jackson produced two cups of espresso. They sat on the sofa before a fire, drank their coffee and watched it get dark outside. When they had finished, Jackson took her face in his hands and kissed her for some time.

“You taste like espresso,” she said while he moved his kisses to her neck.

“You taste like girl,” he replied, moving down. “Everywhere, so far.”

“That’s good.”

“You smell good, too,” he said, pushing his prominent nose between her breasts.

“I bathe.”

“You do a good job.” He began working on her buttons.

“If you keep that up, you’re going to have to make love to me,” she said.

He didn’t stop. Now he had unhooked her bra and had a breast in his hand. “Shall I throw you over my shoulder and take you upstairs?”

“I’m still ambulatory,” she said, standing up and removing her blouse and bra. “But not for much longer. My knees are getting weak.”

He held her against him and kissed her some more, taking her buttocks in his big hands and pulling her toward him. Then he took her hand. “This way,” he said, leading her through the living room and up a flight of stairs to a large bedroom with a large bed, both of them shedding clothes along the way. Daisy followed, her claws clicking on the hardwood floors.

“Lie down, Daisy,” Holly said. “Time to go to sleep.”